The Volturi Menagerie
by greenpeach20
Summary: This is a story steming off of my series, The Renesmee Series. The story about the Children of the Volturi guard and their adventures.
1. Santino

**Santino**

It had been a month since the encounter with the Cullens. Even now, Caius was irritable about it. Marcus remained indifferent, and Aro seemed to be over the incident. The rest of the Volturi guard went about their lives, not really caring about it. As the days following passed, everything seemed to go back to normal for the most part. But around a month's time since the incident, everyone noticed that Aro had been looking thoughtful about something. Everyone knew better than to ask Aro what he was thinking about. If one asked, it meant he would go through with that he was thinking about whether it was really a good idea or not. Aro, Caius, and Marcus were sitting in the main room on their thrones with the Volturi Guard, with the exception of Demetri and Felix, spread around doing their own thing. Felix and Demetri were in the lobby watching _**Scrubs**_. Athenadora was sitting on the arm of Caius' chair and reading together with him and Sulpicia was sitting on Aro's lap telling him about her day. After seeing Aro's thoughtful face, Sulpicia was the one to finally as Aro what was on his mind.

"My love, what are you thinking about? You've looked far away for days." Aro looked at Sulpicia as did everyone else in the main room. Caius immediately looked annoyed, as did Athenadora, and Marcus still looked like he didn't care.

"Oh it's nothing, my dear." There was a collective silent sigh of relief in the room. "But then again.." And the relief was gone, "I can't help but feel jealous of Edward and Bella." Caius rolled his eyes.

"You're jealous of anyone who has something you don't. Tell us something we don't know." Athenadora smirked at Caius' remark, but otherwise didn't say anything.

"Well, aren't we in a sour mood today."

"Aro, I'm always in a sour mood. Again, tell us something we don't know." Athenadora smirked again and stayed quiet. Aro then ignored Caius and looked back at Sulpicia.

"I can't help but want one of those half breeds. And look at little Renesmee's gift. Imagine what my coven could create." All the members of the Voulturi guard looked at Aro in concern. Sulpicia pouted.

"You would never do such a thing to me would you, Aro?" Aro chuckled and shook his head.

"Of course not me, my sweet." Aro's face remained thoughtful for a moment, then he became eager. "I have an idea."

"Of course you do." Aro ignored Caius' comment and kept talking to Sulpicia.

"I wonder if maybe we should have some of our guard couple with human women we capture and see what we get." That's when Aro had everyone's full attention. Even Marcus was paying attention now, and he looked concerned, but the look was subtle.

"And who do you propose we use?" Aro shrugged at Caius' question and looked around the room. He looked at every male member of his guard, each of them silently praying he wouldn't pick them.

"Where are Demetri and Felix?" Heidi answered Aro.

"It's two o'clock. They're watching _**Scrubs**_." Aro sighed.

"I honestly don't understand what they see in that show." Renata spoke.

"What's there to understand? It's a bunch of idiots that work in a hospital as interns and their mentor, Dr. Cox, is an emotionally detached Deuce bag and the chief of medicine, Dr. Kelso, is an asshole. It's funny." Athenadora spoke next.

"I don't think that's funny." Sulpicia rolled her eyes.

"You don't think anything's funny."

"That's not true."

"Aw yes. You laugh when you see a drowning puppy." Athenadora rolled her eyes and brought her face closer to Caius' ear.

"I laugh when I see a small dog swimming in the lake, and now, I'm suddenly a puppy hater." Aro waved his hand to ask for silence.

"Renata, go get them for me." Renata nodded her head and ran out of the main room to the lobby where Felix and Demetri were. She came back with them a minute later. Demetri looked intent on what was going on. Felix was annoyed. He didn't get to watch Scrubs very often, so being interrupted one of the few times he could really aggravated him. "Now that we're all here," he looked at Caius, "who do you think I should use?"

"If you really plan to do this, I suggest the one that has the strongest gift." Aro smiled and immediately looked at Alec.

"Of course." Alec looked at Aro with a nervous face.

"I don't think I should, sir." Aro looked surprised.

"What makes you say that?" Alec sighed.

"Aro, with all due respect, I would rather have sex with my own sister than a human." Felix smirked.

"Like you don't do that already." Alec and Jane glared at Felix for his joke. Everyone else had a quick laugh. Alec and Jane never did such things, but because they were so close and always together, there was a Coven inside joke that they had incest. Just like there was an inside joke that Felix was a man-whore because he was so flirtatious and so on. It wasn't true, it was just inside jokes. But now wasn't the time for them as far as Alec and Jane were concerned.

"Very funny, Felix. But on a serious note, I would really like to see what we get with you, Alec. You have a very strong power. I can only imagine the type of child that power would create." Caius smiled as Aro progressed, but Marcus still wasn't sold on the idea. Marcus told him so by taking Aro's hand for only an instant so he could hear his thoughts. "My god, Marcus, you worry too much. Nothing bad will happen." Caius spoke next.

"What does he think could go wrong?" Aro sighed.

"Marcus thinks that if we do this, it will blow up in our face."

"And how, may I ask, does he think that will happen?"

"He thinks that the children will turn on us if we go through with this. He thinks that a child raised in an unstable environment can only cause trouble for us." Caius actually smirked to himself and chuckled at Marcus' concern. Aro was laughing lightly too, but they were the only ones.

"I doubt very seriously that a child will be able to best us. Especially if that child his half human. Those damn immortal children Aro made couldn't even best us. What makes you think a Halfling will be able to do any better?" Caius and Aro continued to laugh to themselves while everyone stayed quiet. Marcus still didn't look convinced, but he let the matter go.

"But who would we even use?" Alec asked. Aro smiled.

"Gianna's perfectly available. And she's always so eager to help us and do her part."

"That's because she's hoping that we'll make her one of us." Aro shrugged at Alec's reminder.

"I never said I would, now did I? And she doesn't need to know this will kill her. We can just hire a new girl while Gianna's on 'maternity leave'." Caius and Athenadora laughed under their breath while everyone else remained silent. He looked at Felix again with the same smile. "Go get her, will you, Felix?" Felix nodded and ran out of the main room to get Gianna from the lobby. When he was gone, Alec made a plea.

"Might I suggest using Felix? She likes him more than me. And I think Felix would be more open to sleeping with her than me." Aro laughed without humor.

"Alec, Felix has no special power. If we're going to do this, I would like to be guaranteed a gifted child. Now go upstairs to any of the rooms. She'll meet you up there as soon as I tell her to work late." Alec's eyes widened.

"You mean we're doing this now?" Aro nodded.

"Of course we are. You forget she's human. Human women only have so long before their biological clock craps out. I'd like to get this done as soon as possible."

"But Aro, Gianna's twenty six. I don't think we have to worry about her hitting menopause any time soon." Aro chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"Alec, I was joking. But I am serious about getting this done as soon as possible. She might not get pregnant on the first try. I want you to be prepared to keep going until she's pregnant." Jane brought herself into the conversation.

"Please don't make him do this, my lord. He's as likely to drink her dry as impregnate her." Aro shook his head.

"It's alright. He'll get used to it. If he kills Gianna, we can just find another girl, no big deal. It doesn't have to be Gianna, he'll get someone pregnant." Marcus touched Aro's hand again, pressing in another thought. "Of course he'll take care of it. It would be his responsibility as a father after all." Alec seemed to freeze the more Aro talked. Marcus only rolled his eyes and said no more. Aro waved his hand at Alec towards the door. "Now go and pick a room. Demetri will escort her to you and you can get started. Do it once tonight and then we'll wait a while and see if it took. If not, just try again."

Alec looked at Aro for a moment still stunned by what he was asking him to do. But finally, he nodded his head, hugged Jane quickly, and left the main room to go upstairs to one of the many previously unneeded bedrooms in the Volturi Castle. Shortly after that, Felix came back with Gianna walking close behind him into the main room. Gianna looked around at everyone trying to figure out what they might want to talk to her about. She was hoping that today might be the day that they decided to make her one of them. Felix hadn't confirmed or denied the possibility, so she was hoping for the best. When she was before Aro, he got up from where he was sitting and gently took Sulpicia off his lap and walked over to Gianna. She smiled at him hopefully and Aro smiled back with a renewed joy on his face. One could tell he was excited about what he was about to have done.

"Gianna, my dear, how has your day been?" Gianna smiled.

"It's been wonderful sir." Aro smiled wider.

"That's wonderful Gianna, simply wonderful. It thrills me that you enjoy your job so." Gianna nodded her head.

"Yes, I do, sir." Aro grinned.

"Please, Gianna, call me Aro. I hate being called sir, it makes me feel old." Aro began to laugh lightly and Gianna laughed with him. In truth, it was a joke that they'd all heard several times before with just about every receptionist they'd had, so the joke was long past being funny. "I have a little thing I need you to do."

"What do you need me to do?" Aro looked around and pretended to look like he was about to say something private. He brought his face closer to Gianna so that she would be under the impression that only she could hear what he was saying.

"One of the covens I know, close friends of mine really, have had a child last year. She's half human."

"That's wonderful news."

"Indeed it is. But I must confess, I feel rather envious of them for having such a unique child." Gianna's face remained unaware. "But then I realized we had a lovely woman working for us that I was hoping would be more than happy to remedy that for me." Gianna took her face away from Aro and looked at him with a shocked expression. She looked just as surprised as everyone else had when he first came up with the idea.

"My lord…..are you asking me to…..have your child?" Sulpicia hissed at what Gianna said and Aro shook his head.

"Of course not my child, silly girl. Why, my mate would serve our heads on a platter if we did such a thing." Gianna laughed with Aro when he said that. But she glanced over at Sulpicia and saw the look of death in her eyes. When she saw that, she stopped laughing. She had a feeling that it wasn't too far from the truth. She might not kill Aro for it, but she would certainly kill Gianna.

"Then whose child are you asking me to bear?" Aro brought his face closer to Gianna's again to make it seem like she was the only one that could hear him.

"Alec's." Gianna's eyes widened again and she stared at Aro for a moment trying to figure out whether or not he was really asking her what she thought he was.

"But, my Lord, Aro, he's fourteen." Everyone laughed to themselves at her statement. Aro merely shook his head with a big smile.

"He's older than that. He was seventeen when he died. I should know, I'm the one that changed him and Jane. He only looks younger than he is. That happens with British boys sometimes. It's a shame really." Aro smiled and patted Gianna's shoulder. Then he motioned for Demetri to come to him by jerking his head to the back right. "Demetri will take you to the most appropriate place for this little transaction. Hopefully, it won't take long to get you pregnant." Gianna's eyes widened.

"You mean you want to do this now?" Aro nodded as if it were obvious.

"Of course. The sooner the better. Alec's already waiting for you." Aro walked back to his throne and spoke again as he took his seat. "Needless to say, we are going to have to keep you here until the baby is born. We don't want to risk anything happening to you and harming the baby, now do we?" Then Aro motioned with his head for Demetri to take her to Alec.

Demetri tried to walk at a slower pace, but he was still going really fast. Gianna tried to keep up with him, but it was hard to walk in stiletto heels and when being pulled by a man that felt like granite ice. When they got to the floor where the room was, Demetri sped up and kept pulling Gianna with him to where they were going. Gianna wanted to ask questions or make conversation, but Demetri had always scared her, so she kept quiet and hoped, once again, for the best. When they got to the room that Demetri felt Alec's tenor was strongest, he opened the door and gently pushed Gianna into the room. When she was in, he closed the door behind her and went back to the main room.

Gianna saw Alec standing in the corner of the room pacing. She smiled nervously and walked a little closer to him. Alec held up his hand asking her to stop where she was. Gianna did as he asked and stayed put. Alec walked back and forth for a few more seconds while Gianna stood there and watched him. She was beginning to get impatient when Alec sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. Gianna walked a little closer to him until there was only a foot between them. Alec didn't acknowledge her this time. He just kept rubbing his face trying to clear his head.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" Gianna's statement made Alec glance at her through his fingers, then take his hands away from his face. He kept trying to breath, but it wasn't helping him.

"No, don't do anything. Just give me a minute to think." Gianna smiled weakly to herself in mild amusement.

"Mr. Alec, this isn't something that requires a great deal of thought."

Alec held his hand up asking her to be quiet. Alec hated this idea. Aro'd had a lot of not so perfect ideas in his long immortal life since Alec had joined centuries ago, but this was a little too much. Alec started feeling like he really would sleep with Jane if it meant not having to do this. At least he liked Jane. She was his sister. Gianna he never liked. He'd always thought of her as empty-headed and often a bit of a tramp. She seemed to be infatuated with Felix, which alone said a lot about her character in his opinion. There was no denying that Felix was an attractive man, but for god's sake, he was Roman. The man was born into a society that would have sex with a goat if all the men, women, and children weren't around and would upskirt any whore he came across. This thought went through Alec's mind in a tenth of a second, so Gianna didn't see him looking thoughtful for long. When he finally opened his eyes and looked at Gianna, he subtly took a deep breath that he already knew wouldn't do him any good at all.

"Well…..get on the bed and….we'll start from there I guess." Gianna didn't notice Alec stuttering and took a seat on the edge of the large bed in the elegant room.

The sheets of the bed were an ivory white. The stone of the room was medieval and grey with ivory fabrics like curtains and rugs all over the large room. Gianna looked around at all the pieces while she waited, not very long of course, for Alec. She started unbuttoning her blouse trying to get things moving along. But when she did that, he only looked away again and stared at the wall. Gianna looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then laughed to herself under her breath. Alec still heard her and looked at her with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"What's so funny?" She shook her head gently.

"You've never done this before, have you?" Alec didn't respond at first. Truth be told, he really never had done this before. He'd never found anyone he wanted to be with enough to do something like this. Half the time, he figured Jane was enough of a female companion that he never really wanted a woman in that way. But, in truth, that was none of Gianna's business. Instead of answering or commenting to her question, he tried to get things moving and over with.

"I really don't want to do this." Gianna shrugged.

"I won't lie, neither do I. If I have to do this, I'd rather do this with Felix."

"Of course you would you slut." Alec mumbled those words so low that Gianna didn't hear him.

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. Let's just get this over with." Gianna nodded and finished undoing her blouse and laid back on the bed and waited. Alec took another unhelpful deep breath and closed his eyes to concentrate. He tried to think of everything that might possibly arouse him. It wasn't helping much, though. Then Gianna crawled on the bed a little closer to Alec until she was sitting on the edge of the bed two feet away from him.

"Do you want me to stimulate you somehow?" Alec looked at her again.

"And how would you…." As Alec spoke, he realized what she meant and he shuddered. "Oh. That……No, no I don't want you to do that. Just give me a minute to clear my head." Gianna heavily breathed out and scooted back onto the bed and waited.

Alec started pacing again, desperately trying to think of anything he might find arousing. For a moment, he even pictured Jane naked, after everything else didn't work. He wasn't sure if he was angered or relieved when thinking of Jane naked immediately turned him off. On one side, at least he didn't have a sister complex, but on the other hand, now he'd undid anything thinking of naked women had done for him. He even tried thinking of naked men, just in case. He knew he was relieved when that only made him feel sick. Alec did, however, consider walking back to the main room and telling Aro he couldn't do it because he was gay. Aro would demand to hear it and wouldn't care either way.

"So what should we name the baby when it's born?" Alec looked at Gianna a little surprised by her question. He was taken off guard for a moment.

"I don't know. Why?" Gianna shrugged.

"I don't know. I just wondered." Alec sighed.

"Why, what would you want to name it?" Gianna grinned a little.

"Well, if it's a girl, I think we should name her Sofia. And if it's a boy, we should name him Santino." Alec shrugged, not really caring.

"Sure, whatever." Alec didn't see the point in forming an emotional attachment to something he didn't even want. Finally, he said more. "I can't think of a way around this." Gianna shrugged.

"I don't suppose artificial insemination would work." Alec laughed without humor.

"As nice as it sounds, Aro won't have the patience to arrange that. He'll figure going natural will be quicker." Alec looked at Gianna again. "When was your last period?"

"A few days ago." Alec finally smiled in blissful relief.

"Thank god. A child's as sure as spring." Gianna wasn't sure how true that was, but decided not to ruffle his feathers. She wasn't too thrilled with doing this either and she too was hoping they'd only have to do this once. Alec took in one more deep and worthless breath, then looked at Gianna. "Okay. Let's just get this over with."

Gianna nodded and took off her blouse which she'd already unbuttoned before. When it was off, she started working of the rest of her cloths. Alec, too, undressed just as awkwardly as she did. When they were both ready, Alec closed his eyes, and brought himself to Gianna, all the while trying not to breathe and not to think. While Alec was upstairs with Gianna, everyone else was in the main room waiting to see what would happen. Jane was in a foul mood due to the change in events for the day. She was mad that Aro would make Alec do such a thing and not give him an option to say no. It wasn't like Alec was the only male member of the coven that wasn't perfectly capable of getting Gianna pregnant.

Felix and Demetri had long since gone back to the lobby to finish watching _**Scrubs**_. To Felix' relief, there was a big marathon going on today, so he didn't need to worry about not getting to see enough of his favorite show. Demetri wasn't as big a fan, but there wasn't really much else to do. Felix and Demetri were, in their own way, best friends. Felix was usually the one Demetri would talk to about anything and so on. And there was always something that Demetri talked about to Felix that, in all truthfulness, had been getting on Felix' nerves for centuries. When a commercial came on, Demetri brought that exact thing up.

"Now that we're on a commercial, can I talk to you about something?" Felix sighed.

"If this has anything to do with Heidi, you already know what I'm going to tell you. Either tell her you like her and fuck her brains out, or shut the hell up about it." Demetri kept his sigh internal.

"But I don't think she likes me."

"My god, Demetri, you two have known each other for how many centuries now? You're worse than Miss. Fine and Mr. Sheffield from _**The Nanny**_."

"That is completely different. They at least knew they loved each other. Maxwell just had commitment issues and Fran was obsessed with getting married. Neither of those apply to me and Heidi."

"Of course not because you're too much of a pussy to tell her you like her in the first place." Demetri started giving Felix a dirty look. "And I must say that you've told me on more than one occasion that you not only like Heidi, you love her. I can't imagine the feeling wouldn't be mutual."

"There are plenty of relationships where the love is one sided."

"Maybe, but I don't think that applies to you two. And the commercials are over, so that mean no talking." Demetri contained his irritation and continued watching the show with Felix.

There wasn't much activity as everyone waited for Alec to come back. Jane was occupying her mind by talking to Heidi, much to Heidi's distaste. Jane wasn't giving very good conversation at the moment. She was so annoyed with what was happening, but not wanting to express it with Aro and Caius listening, that her responses to Heidi were limited and really brief. After a while, Jane simply decided to run to the library and read. Afton and Chelsea had gone off somewhere in the castle to be alone, or as alone as a couple could be in a large castle filled with vampires.

Corin ended up going to the library with Jane to read too. Out of boredom, Heidi decided to look for Demetri and talk to him. She knew he would most likely be with either Corin or Felix. She checked in the lobby first and was happy to see him there. When she came into the room, Demetri looked over at her and smiled almost shyly. Felix didn't turn to face Heidi. He kept watching the show and laughing at the argument between Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso about the full body scans he was offering. Demetri got up from the couch and followed Heidi out of the lobby and to one of the many roof top terraces on the castle. It was late afternoon, so the sun was going down anyway. As they left, Felix crossed his fingers that Demetri would, for once, take his advice, then laughed at the show again. When Demetri and Heidi got to the roof top, they sat together and watched the sunset.

"What a day, huh?" Demetri nodded.

"Yeah. I can't tell you how glad I am that Aro didn't make me do it."

"I wouldn't get excited yet. If this turns out well, Aro's going to want to do this again. And he might just want another tracker." Demetri lost his smile and rested his head on the stone railing. Heidi fought a laugh and smiled. "That never crossed your mind I see."

"No, it hadn't. Thank you so much for giving me something to worry about."

"It wouldn't be just you who needs to worry. I mean look at the others. Alec can make one dead to the world, you're the best tracker in the world as far as we know, Corin can physically slow down an opponent, and Afton can change anything into solid rock. He's got plenty of other options besides you."

"And what's to stop Aro from deciding to use all of us?" Heidi held a straight face for a moment, then smiled again.

"Shame on me for not thinking of that." Demetri made an internal groan.

"Shame on you indeed." Heidi giggled and patted Demetri's back.

"Well, maybe you'll all get lucky and this whole thing will blow up in Aro's face." Demetri shrugged.

"One can only hope." Heidi smiled and patted Demetri's back again.

About a half hour later, after talking for most of the afternoon, Renata came up to the terrace and told them they needed to come to the main room. Demetri and Heidi ran down the stairs and back to the main room and were there in seconds. Felix was already there with the same put out expression that he'd had the first time Aro had called everyone to the main room. Alec was in the room with everyone and Jane was by his side relentlessly primping him and trying to wash away Gianna's scent. Alec let her without complaint and seemed to be in a permanent state of repulsion. Aro didn't seem to be bothered by Alec's expression and was only happy to see that what he wanted done was done.

"So, Alec, I'm assuming it's done." Alec nodded while Jane was forcing open Alec's shirt and going over his chest with a damp, soapy rag. "Jane, calm down. He won't smell like Gianna forever."

"I don't want my brother to smell like her at all, ever." Aro chuckled under his breath and shook his head at her.

"Let's just hope she got pregnant. If it took this time, than we can expect our own little half breed in a matter of two weeks." Alec nodded.

"I really hope so." After Alec said that, Jane seemed to start scrubbing him even harder.

"She's still up there, right?" Alec nodded.

"I told her she should stay up there. I assumed you wanted her to." Aro smiled.

"Very good assumption on your part." Then Aro looked at Sulpicia. "My love, would you and Athenadora keep an eye on Gianna for a few days? Let me know when she starts showing symptoms of being pregnant. And Heidi, go out and steal a few first response pregnancy tests. From what I heard from Edward, three days should be enough time to know whether or not she's pregnant." Heidi nodded and rolled her eyes at Demetri to express to him her annoyance without Aro seeing and left to go to a convenience store near the castle. It was dark out now, so her being outside wouldn't be a problem.

As Heidi left, Sulpicia and Athenadora went up to the room where Gianna was to keep an eye on her. A few days later, as Aro hoped, Gianna suffered the first of many morning sicknesses. She took a pregnancy test just to be sure. Aro was even more thrilled when the test showed that single little pink line that confirmed that Gianna was pregnant. When they were sure, Alec finally breathed a sigh of true relief and so did Jane. She was ecstatic that Alec wouldn't have to sleep with her again. Alec was just as happy. Once it was for sure that Gianna was pregnant, Aro ordered her to be put on a strictly blood diet so they wouldn't have to deal with any more health problems than was needed. With the exception of Gianna, they all knew she was going to die, but Aro didn't want to risk anything happening to her while she was pregnant.

Sulpicia and Athenadora looked after Gianna during her pregnancy. Aro had wanted Alec to help them, but Alec politely insisted that he'd rather not be involved anymore than what was needed. He didn't think being around during Gianna's pregnancy was really needed. That and he just didn't want to look at her. He was desperately trying not to ever think about what they'd done together ever again. It was something that made him miss his human mind. Human minds could forget things. Right now, everyone was sitting in the main room waiting for Heidi to come back. Aro had ordered her to get as many humans as she could possibly fit in the main room. Aro thought Gianna getting pregnant was something worth celebrating. How odd that the father to be wasn't all that excited, if at all. When Demetri felt Heidi's tenor was close to the castle, he ran to the main entrance to greet her and all the humans she tricked into following her. Demetri waited to see Heidi as a large crowd of thirty or forty people walked passed him. By the time he saw Heidi singled out, he'd counted forty five.

"Forty five people, Heidi. That's a record." Heidi smiled at Demetri and nodded.

"It's the Minolos." Heidi was wearing a mini red dress with a pair of black Minolo shoes she'd taken the liberty of snatching a few days before. Demetri chuckled under his breath at her joke. "I see we still haven't hired a new receptionist yet." Demetri shrugged.

"We will once Aro gets around to it. You know how he tends to procrastinate." Heidi giggled.

"Indeed we all do." Demetri only smiled in humor, then looked over Heidi. "What are you looking at?" Her tone was teasing, but it still brought Demetri back to reality.

"You look nice is all." Heidi smiled and Demetri with an appreciative and teasing smile.

"I always thought I looked nice every day." Demetri's face was nervous, but he was trying his best to hide that.

"You do, it's just that dress looks nice on you." Heidi smiled and walked closer to him.

"Well thank you, Demetri, that's very sweet of you." Then Heidi kissed Demetri's forehead and walked on to the main room. Demetri was used to her doing that, so it didn't make him feel panicky. She liked teasing him. In truth, she teased anyone that gave her opportunity to.

Demetri and Heidi walked together behind the tourists she'd gathered to the main room so they could start their 'tour' as she had called it. All the humans Heidi had gathered were taking pictures of the tapestries and stone walls of the castle as they walked down the long hallway to the main room. The doors were wide open for the visitors and they all crowded into the room with Demetri and Heidi walking close behind them. When they were all in, Heidi and Demetri closed the doors behind them as Aro greeted them enthusiastically. They all looked at Demetri and Heidi in confusion when they heard the large doors close.

"Now, now, ladies and gentlemen, worry not." Then they looked back at Aro while he spoke and gave a little trivia here and there about the castle. Aro did this every time. He liked his prey to be relaxed and in a false sense of security. It made things less complicated as he always said. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, without further delay, let's start our tour."

When Aro said that, all the Volturi guard breathed a silent sigh of relief that he was done talking and they could indulge. Felix was the first to help himself. The moment Aro was done talking, Felix grabbed the closest human to him, a tall man about his height with blonde hair and age lines in Bermuda shorts and a bad tank, by the back of his tank, pulled the man to him, and bit into his neck.

They all looked at the man that was suddenly screaming for his life, then started screaming themselves at the sight of this handsome, pale olive toned man with dark hair, biting into the neck of one of the other tourists. The tourists all screamed and scattered, but wherever they went, there was a vampire ready to bite into their necks. Within seconds, each member of the Volturi had their teeth buried in someone's neck. The tourists that hadn't been claimed yet were running around the main room and slamming on the doors desperately trying to get it open. Everyone was screaming and some were holding crosses and begging for their lives. Whenever a member of the Volturi was done drinking the blood of one tourist, they would sigh contentedly for a mere instant, then make their way to their next victim.

Some of the tourists would try to fight back. They would try punching or slapping the vampires that would attack them. But they would only receive either a broken hand or were bitten in their wrist when the vampire grabbed their hand to stop the slap. When there were only a few humans left, all the Volturi members surrounded the remaining tourists and laughed to themselves as they trembled in fear. When they had them surrounded in the middle of the large room, they all jumped on a human and took a bite. The screams continued until the last human was dead from the loss of blood. When all the tourists were drained and dead, everyone breathed in the smell and admired their newly bright red eyes. Heidi smiled and patted Demetri's back again when she was standing next to him.

"Ah, the fruits of my labor." Her tone was teasing and playful. Demetri smiled at her with a small nod. Caius and Marcus immediately went back to their thrones and sat down when they were done with their piece. Aro smiled at Heidi's comment and looked around the room. Sulpicia went straight to his side and hugged him around his waist.

"Indeed, Heidi. You've done an excellent job yet again. You really outdid yourself this time." Heidi smiled.

"I try." Aro nodded in agreement, then looked at Sulpicia. After giving her a quick kiss on her forehead, he made his request.

"My darling, now that you and Athenadora have had some blood, would you please go back to Gianna and watch her?" Sulpicia smiled at Aro and nodded while Athenadora looked at Caius with an angry, pleading look. Caius shrugged and Athenadora rolled her eyes.

"Of course, love." Sulpicia kissed Aro, then looked at Athenadora and walked out of the main room. Athenadora reluctantly walked with her to the room Gianna was in.

The guards all went about their business for the day. They either talked to each other, went to the lobby to watch something good on, or went to the library to read. Demetri went with Heidi to the roof and they played cards together for a while. Afton and Chelsea were in the lobby with Corin, Alec, and Jane watching a Terminator marathon they found. Felix had been watching with them, but left as soon as Terminator 3 started. As far as he was concerned, the series went down from 2 and 4 didn't make up for the mockery 3 made of a great series. He left to go upstairs and play cards with Demetri and Heidi.

A few of the Volturi took the bodies to a place outside the city when it was night so they could burn them and dispose of them properly. When that was done, they came back and went about what they'd been doing.

As days went by, Gianna started to really look pregnant. By the end of four days, she already looked like she was at least six months pregnant. Gianna thought it was strange that the baby never seemed to kick or nudge or make any movement of any kind. Sulpicia and Athenadora were able to hear a heartbeat from the baby, so they disregarded Gianna's concerns about the baby's lack of movement. Alec did express some concern over this, but not to anyone but himself. Jane had even joked, not in front of Aro of course, that maybe the baby would be still born and Alec would be off the hook. Alec smiled when Jane said that, but for some reason, he didn't feel all that relieved about the possibility.

But as the days went by, Alec still refused to go to Gianna. After what had happened between them, he didn't want to see her ever again. He didn't plan to ever go in there. He knew Aro would demand he at least be near to collect the baby once it was born, but he didn't want to go back to that room for any other reason. When one looked at all the Volturi members, it was as if Gianna's pregnancy wasn't important at all. Sulpicia and Athenadora were asked to keep an eye on her, so they were the only ones that had any real contact with her. Even so, they never talked to Gianna. They would give her the donated blood and tell her to drink it, but that was about it.

When it had been a week and a half, Sulpicia and Athenadora watched her even closer. Sulpicia was going to be the midwife. Athenadora was to run to the main room and tell everyone it was time. They watched Gianna like hawks for the last few days she was expected to be pregnant. Gianna wasn't sure if she should feel safe that they were keeping such a close eye on her or if she should feel crowded. Either way, she figured it was better they were being watchful than negligent.

It was February 21st at nine at night, 2009. Everyone was doing their own things all over the castle. Most were in the main room talking while others were in the lobby and the library. Alec was sitting with Jane against a wall playing poker. That peace and quiet was disturbed when Athenadora came running down the hall and into the main room where she went right to Aro with a serious look on her face. Caius stood up in anticipation for her as did Aro.

"Is it time?" Aro asked. Athenadora nodded her head with the same seriousness that never faded.

"Her water just broke." That's when Alec instinctively stood at attention, as did everyone else in the room. Aro's smile widened and he clapped his hands together once.

"Wonderful. Go get everyone else and tell them to come in here. Help Sulpicia once you've done that." Then Aro looked at Alec. "Go upstairs and wait for the baby to be born. And when it is, bring it down here so we can see." Alec hid his initial nervousness and odd sick feeling as he nodded his head and ran upstairs and waited outside the door.

A minute after he was up there, Athenadora dashed into the room and didn't bother closing the door behind her. Alec's throat burned when he smelled the blood that was already present, but he did his best to ignore it. Gianna, at first, was only groaning in pain from the contractions she was suffering. But, not wanting to wait, Athenadora and Sulpicia performed a C-Section without any morphine, making Gianna start to scream. Alec stayed outside the room waiting for Athenadora and Sulpicia to be done. Eventually, he heard Gianna stop screaming, but her heartbeat hadn't stopped yet. And he heard the fast flutter heartbeat that he assumed to be the baby's. The baby wasn't crying, but he didn't think anything of it. Neither did Athenadora or Sulpicia. He heard Gianna scream again when he heard one of them bite into her and drink her blood. Then Athenadora came out and handed the baby to Alec.

"Here, it's a boy." With that said, Athenadora went back into the room and joined Sulpicia in draining Gianna of blood.

Alec looked towards where she'd been for a moment. Gianna had asked him to name the baby Santino if it were a boy. He had never been fond of the name, but somehow, it seemed to be suitable. Alec looked down at Santino and looked at him. But when he looked at his son, his eyes widened in horror. He knew the face Santino was making. It was the face of every victim that had ever suffered through Alec's power. It was a blank stare that seemed to have no purpose or reason. Santino's face looked lifeless and hollow as if he had no mind of his own. Alec stared at Santino in shock for a moment, then gently shook him in his arms, hoping the slight movement might make him cry or move or make any kind of response that showed he was alive to the world. It didn't help.

"Go, Alec. Aro wants to see the baby." He was taken out of his fearful stare when Athenadora poked Alec in the shoulder. He immediately composed his face and looked at her.

"Sorry." Without saying anything else, he started running downstairs with Athenadora and Sulpicia following close behind him. They reached the main room in less than a second and Aro stood from his throne in excitement the moment he saw them coming down the hall.

"Let us see the baby, Alec." Sulpicia spoke next with her mate's same joyful smile.

"It's a boy, my love. Little Santino." Aro smiled wider and clapped his hands once in joy.

"Simply wonderful. Bring him over to me, Alec. Let me see him." Caius, though happy himself, remained strictly business.

"What I care about is what this brat can do." Aro waved his hand dismissively at Caius.

"We'll get to that in a moment. Bring him here, Alec." Alec walked over, but he did it slowly. He was suddenly nervous about what Aro would say. Alec found it odd that he suddenly seemed to care so much.

As Alec walked to Aro, Aro started walking to Alec in anticipation for what he was hoping would be a great success. But when he was mere feet away from Alec, he saw the face on Santino's face and became confused. When he realized, an instant later, why the face was so familiar, his face went from confusion to horror and anger. Though his face was well composed, everyone could tell he was infuriated. Sulpicia walked closer to Aro about to ask him what was the matter, but then she looked at the baby and realized the problem.

"Oh my god." Sulpicia's voice was horrified, just like her face. Caius got up and walked to Alec and Santino to see what the problem was. Marcus followed, simply because he was eager to see how Aro's little plan blew up in his face. Marcus looked, then walked right back to his throne fighting his laugh at the irony of the situation. Caius was yelling the moment he saw Santino.

"What the hell is this?!" Alec kept his ground, but felt a sting at the way Caius said that. He kept a straight face, not wanting to make the situation worse.

"It's a baby, my dear." Caius glared at Athenadora for her little smart ass remark. She only shrugged. "Don't get mad at me. I just help deliver the little parasite." Once again, Alec felt a small sting at her words, but he kept his straight face and refused to let it show. Aro's voice was far more controlled and calm, but it was still angry and disappointed.

"Alec, please tell me you're using your power on him because you didn't want to hear him cry or something along those lines." Alec was about to speak, but Sulpicia spoke instead.

"He wasn't crying at all when we pulled him out. He wasn't moving or crying or anything." Aro looked like he was fighting to stay calm. Caius wasn't even bothering.

"So what, he's still born?!" Athenadora spoke next.

"No, he's not still born. If he were still born, we would have told you that!"

"Well, then what's wrong with him, then?!" Everyone was silent when they saw Marcus touch Aro's shoulder for a second, then take his hand away. Aro sighed. "What?!"

"It's the reverse of Alec's power. Santino's still alive, but he's a vegetable for lack of a better word."

"And what good is that to us?!" Aro rolled his eyes at Caius.

"Calm down Caius. I'm sure we can fix this." Then Aro looked at Alec. "See what you can do to fix this. Do everything you can to make this child useful." Caius voice was low, but still angry when he spoke.

"And what if he can't fix it?" Aro sighed again.

"Then let him die." Alec tried his best to keep a straight face when Aro said that. He looked at Santino and felt an odd pain in his chest at the look on his face.

He was such a beautiful child. He had dark blonde hair, probably a combination of his and Gianna's hair color, brown eyes, and his face was a perfect combination of him and Gianna. As much as he disliked Gianna, he had to admit that her nose was very becoming on Santino. And her ears were precious on him. He even had Gianna's full lips. But the rest, one could tell, was Alec. His shaped eyes, his cheek bones, his chin, even his hands and feet. Alec felt an odd determination that he never thought he would have before. He felt the need to save this little child that he didn't even want. But he didn't let it show on his face. The last thing he needed was to be criticized for already being attached. Alec only looked at Santino for an instant before looking back at Aro and Caius. Both still looked aggravated. Marcus didn't look surprised at all about the turn of events.

"Well that's a waste. We come out with nothing. How do you plan to fix that little tidbit, Aro?" Aro gave Caius a stern look.

"I'll think of something. Just give me a moment." Aro looked thoughtful for a moment. He looked like he came up with a solution after a minute. "We could try again." Alec's eyes did widen again.

"You can't be serious. We'll only get the same result." Aro shook his head.

"Yes, if we use Alec." Alec breathed out in relief that he wasn't going to make him try again. He knew he'd only get the same result. It wasn't even that he didn't want another child anymore. It was the fact that he didn't think he could handle going through something like this again. "But not if we use someone else." Alec looked at Marcus, who was rolling his eyes and breathing out in annoyance.

"And who do you plan to use this time?"

Everyone stiffened again and looked at Aro. Chelsea grabbed Afton's hand and started clutching onto him protectively. Afton let go of her hand and wrapped that arm around her while she grabbed onto his other hand and clutched onto him just as hard. Heidi looked at Demetri with concern and stayed close to him. Corin and Felix stood alone, and that made them feel all the more tense. Aro looked at all his male guards thoughtfully trying to pick someone he thought would be a good choice. Finally, Aro thought about what would be the best choice, looked at who he'd chosen with a stern look and spoke with a voice that was just as stern.

"Demetri." Everyone except Demetri finally relaxed. Heidi looked at him and patted his back in an attempt to be reassuring. Demetri didn't change his expression, but he could feel himself getting sick. "I think another tracker would be a wonderful idea." Aro didn't say this with nearly as much enthusiasm as he had before. "Go out and pick someone. I don't care who. I expect you back here with someone before morning. Is that clear?" Demetri nodded respectfully.

"Yes, sir." Heidi kept patting his back, but it wasn't helping, though he was glad Heidi was at least trying to make him feel better. But Aro was in no mood for sympathy.

"That means now, Demetri."

Demetri breathed uselessly and nodded respectfully. Then he turned and walked out of the room with Heidi following after him. Aro tried to get himself to relax and took a seat on his throne. Sulpicia took a seat on his lap and tried to help calm him. Athenadora sat on the arm of Caius' chair and ran her fingers through his hair soothingly while Marcus sat in his chair with a look on his face that almost said, 'I told you so'.

Alec took Santino with him to the corner of the large main room and started thinking of what he could do to possibly heal his son. Jane stood close to him and tried to tell him that it he should feel relieved. It seemed like he might actually be off the hook. But no matter how much she tried, Alec wouldn't respond to her or talk to her at all. Jane became extremely aggravated with that and started giving Santino a look of death, but didn't say anything to Alec. Everyone else was finally relaxed and avoiding Aro and Caius by leaving for the library or the lobby. Chelsea took Afton to one of the many rooms so she could vent to him in private. Demetri walked all the way up to the highest tower of the castle and looked out onto the city. Heidi was standing behind him.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Demetri looked at Heidi a moment before answering. He didn't want to admit to her that he didn't want to go alone, but the truth was that he didn't. And if he was going to take anyone with him, it would be Heidi. Besides, she would be able to help him get someone.

"Would you?" She smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course, Demetri." He smiled back at her and waited for her to get to the edge where he was. When she was, he was about to jump off, but she took his hand. They looked at each other a moment before they both smiled. Then they looked down below at the city nightlife and jumped off into the city and ran around to look for someone they thought would be okay.

Alec and Jane remained in the main room. Alec looked at Santino thinking of anything he could possibly do. Jane stayed quiet seeing as Alec was too occupied with Santino. She looked at his face and couldn't understand what he was thinking. Alec's face was blank and seemed indifferent, but he still looked like he was concentrating. It was the first time she could remember not knowing exactly what he was thinking. Finally, after spending an hour of not talking, Jane couldn't take the silence between them anymore.

"Alec." Alec didn't say anything. "Leave it for a while. Maybe it'll wear off." Alec didn't say anything still. He didn't want to risk yelling at Jane. She'd spent most of the time an hour ago telling him that he was off the hook, and now she was basically telling him that he was wasting his time. Jane, of course, wasn't going to take silence as an answer. "Could you please say something?" Alec kept his sigh internal and his voice calm.

"Fine. Shut up, I'm working." Jane's eyes went wide at his words. Never in all their years, not even when they were human as she recalled, had Alec ever told Jane to shut up. She wanted to say more, but she thought against it and decided to leave Alec alone.

Alec looked at Santino a moment, then a thought came to him. He wondered if maybe he could reverse the effect by using his power on him. He did that and watched Santino. But when he did that, Santino's heart stopped and he stopped breathing. Alec immediately stopped and breathed at last when Santino's heart was beating and he was breathing again. Obviously, that wasn't going to work. Alec noticed that Aro and Caius were staring at him while he was trying to help Santino. Alec tried to ignore them while he kept thinking of what he could do. After a few hours of just looking at Santino and not having any idea what to do, Aro lost his patience and spoke.

"Alec." Alec looked at Aro. "Don't bother. I'm sure we'll get a good result with Demetri. Just let it be." Alec nodded his head, doing his best not to say anything. He felt himself getting angry with everyone for daring to reduce Santino to a 'thing'. Instead of disposing of Santino, though, he took him to one of the rooms in the castle and placed Santino on a bed. And after that, he did everything he could, not letting himself be deterred by anything anyone said.


	2. Dante

**Dante**

Demetri and Heidi had spent about an hour wandering the dark streets of Volterra looking for a girl. But so far, they hadn't found anyone. There were plenty of women on the streets, but most of them were with their husband, boyfriend, or friends and Demetri wasn't in the mood for a fight. And it was made all the harder because Heidi seemed to pull Demetri away from a lot of the possible victims. Demetri had kept his mouth shut about it for most of the 'hunting' trip. But after a time, he began to get annoyed with Heidi. They were in an ally way looking out onto the streets. Demetri saw a beautiful girl walking along the streets alone. She looked drunk, making her all the easier to kidnap. Not to mention in her inebriated state, she would probably agree to whatever he said whether she knew him or not.

"Let's go with her. She won't put up much of a fight."

"No." Demetri looked at Heidi, having had enough of her pickiness.

"What's wrong this time?"

"I don't think you should try to impregnate a drunk woman. It might be bad for the baby and you know Aro won't tolerate another failure."

"Pregnancies go wrong when the mother is drinking during her pregnancy. I doubt very seriously that being drunk while the baby's conceived will do anything at all."

"I still say kidnapping a drunk girl is a bad idea." Demetri sighed aloud.

"Look, Heidi. I appreciate you helping me. But I can't accomplish anything if you keep shooting down every girl we find." Heidi didn't respond. She only started playing with her mahogany hair. Something Demetri knew as one of her angry habits. "You're mad at me." She looked at Demetri with the same angry line.

"What are you talking about? Who said I was mad?"

"I know when you're mad. What did I do?" She rolled her eyes.

"You didn't do anything. I'm not mad at you."

"You're lying to me." Demetri's voice remained calm as he spoke. But when Heidi responded, she raised her voice slightly.

"I'm not mad at you, okay. Just get the damn girl and let's go home." Demetri wanted to say more, but he thought better of it and went to get his 'assignment' over with.

She was wobbling around at a really slow pace. And she was wearing Stiletto platform heels that made her tall enough to jump over a mountain. She was almost as tall as Demetri when he was standing right next to her. She was wearing a snakeskin print miniskirt with a blue halter top with a beaded string that went around her neck. Her shoes were a bright yellow that contrasted with her blue outfit beautifully and her yellow purse matched her shoes flawlessly from what Demetri could tell from what little he knew about fashion from whatever Heidi would tell him. And she looked about Heidi's size. Demetri wondered if maybe he could give the outfit to Heidi as a present so she wouldn't be mad at him anymore, whatever her reason was. The woman, with her heels, was about five eight with long legs and a curvy natural waist and shoulder length brown, hazelnut highlighted, hair that was styled to be fairly curly. She had a thin face with a pointed chin and full lips that were a deep red color with a subtle eye shadow. She was a beautiful girl. Certainly a decent choice. When Demetri was close enough to her, he tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She looked at him with a bewildered look.

"Are you alright, miss?" Demetri kept his tone friendly and compassionate. She groaned a little in what seemed like discomfort.

"Not really, no." As she spoke, her words were severely slurred and would be hard for a human to understand. "My friends left the bar without me and now I can't find my way home. Why? Are you a cop?" Demetri nodded, hoping that a cop was a person she would feel comfortable talking to.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm Officer Pylkavizch." Pylkavizch had been his last name when he was human. He figured it was a good name to use. He knew he didn't look remotely Italian. Even a drunk would know that.

"Pylkavizch? Are you Polish?" Demetri shook his head.

"Russian." She attempted a smile.

"What's a Russian doing in Italy?" Without missing a beat, Demetri fabricated a believable story. He'd been twenty seven when he was changed. He figured he could pass for a thirty year old who the years had been kind to.

"My family escaped the Soviet Union in the seventies. This was a country my family was able to sneak into safely. I was born here in Italy."

"Did they move back to Russia after the fall?" He shook his head.

"No. They stayed." Demetri tried wrapping up the conversation as fast as possible. "I'll take you to the station, miss. You can stay there until morning when you're sober again." She smiled at Demetri gratefully.

"Thanks officer." Demetri tried to make his smile back sincere and helpful looking. She grabbed a hold of his arm and followed him while he walked across the street back to Heidi. She still looked upset, but Demetri smiled gratefully at her.

"Thanks Heidi." She shrugged.

"Think nothing of it." The girl looked up at Demetri.

"Is this your partner?" Demetri nodded.

"Yes. This is my partner, Officer.." He paused, giving Heidi a chance to say something.

"Heidbrier. Officer Heidi Heidbrier."

"Are you Russian too?" Heidi shook her head.

"No. German." Demetri's grateful smile widened at Heidi. She only gave him a half smile and turned around back towards where they came. Demetri, then, lifted the woman into his arms so they would be able to go faster without being dragged along.

Demetri and Heidi took their time getting back to the castle. They knew they had plenty of time before it was morning. And Demetri wanted to prolong the inevitable as much as possible. The longer it was before he actually had to sleep with the woman, the better. He felt himself getting nauseous as they entered into the castle through the sewer entrance. He noticed a few minutes back that the woman had fallen asleep, so he wasn't surprised by her silence. He figured her being asleep would make everything that much easier. Hopefully, she was a heavy sleeper. Heidi looked through her purse to see if there was anything that might indicate that she was on birth control or anything that he needed to worry about. Heidi did find a condom in her purse, so she was confident that she wasn't on the pill, but advised Demetri to be prepared for if she was. For all they knew, she said, this girl was just really, really cautious and smart enough to use birth control and condoms. Some women were just that cautious.

"Heidi." Demetri said when they were walking through the sewer entrance.

"What?" Demetri breathed.

"Do you like this woman's outfit?" Heidi gave Demetri a weird look.

"Why are you asking?"

"Just answer me. Do you or do you not like it?" Heidi shrugged.

"The woman has lovely taste and I certainly plan to snatch it for myself if she's my size. Why?"

"I was actually going to give it to you as a present if you liked it. My little attempted to make you not mad at me anymore." Heidi gave him a strange smile, then started laughing. She sighed and shook her head before walking over to him and patting his shoulder.

"I told you, I'm not mad at you."

"But you're acting like you are." Heidi shook her head again.

"I'm annoyed with Aro's decision, that's all. I'm sorry if I was forcing it onto you. But I do love the outfit this woman is wearing, and I accept it as your gift to me. That's very sweet of you, Demetri." Demetri returned Heidi's smile.

"As long as you're not mad at me." Heidi shook her head again and started walking.

"Of course not." In truth, Heidi wasn't mad at Demetri, per se, but she was mad. It bothered her that Aro was making Demetri do this. Even though she'd been teasing Demetri when they were talking about it on the terrace, she'd still been hoping that he wouldn't have to. In truth, Demetri was far better father material than any of the other men of the Volturi guard, but that didn't mean he should be forced into it.

That's what she told herself. But she knew there was more to it than that. A lot more to it than that. But now wasn't the time to delve into her own personal feelings about the matter. They were irrelevant, she knew, as far as Aro was concerned. Demetri didn't even know about them anyway. There was no point in adding to an already complicated situation.

When Demetri and Heidi were finally back in the castle, Heidi went to the main room while Demetri took his victim to one of the bedrooms. Aro would want this to be done as soon as possible. Coming in to tell him that he'd found someone would only annoy him at this point. Aro was in no mood for dawdling. It was always fine and dandy when he dawdled, but the minute someone else in the guard did, he would have a fit. Heidi was in the main room in seconds being sure to have a straight face. She was pretty sure she hadn't let any emotion show in front of Demetri and she certainly wasn't going to show any to Aro, especially while he's in his current grumpy mood. When Heidi was in the main room, Aro looked at her with a hard line.

"Where's Demetri?"

"He went upstairs with the girl we found. He assumed you'd rather he got started right away." Aro nodded.

"Indeed I would. And I don't want to see him until it's done." Heidi nodded.

"You won't sir." Aro seemed to relax a little while Caius remained angry looking. Athenadora was mumbling stuff to him in hopes of calming him down a little. Athenadora was usually the only one that could ever get Caius to calm down.

Heidi went to the lobby and watched a movie with Felix while waiting for Demetri. Felix was watching _**Airplane**_ and was still at the beginning of the movie. Heidi preferred watching movies with Demetri. He never shushed her during the movie whenever she wanted to make a comment. Felix liked pure silence whenever he was watching a show or movie, and that annoyed her. Demetri rushed the girl to a room in one of the towers as fast as he could. They were in one of the rooms in the tower within two seconds of arriving. He placed her on the bed and started by snatching her purse. He already promised to give this stuff to Heidi. He wanted the things he promised first and foremost.

Demetri rummaged through her purse to take out everything. When he saw the wallet, he decided to empty that and give it to Heidi too. It was a red snakeskin wallet that he thought she might like. She loved snakeskin after all. Half the shoes and purses she'd stolen through the years were all snakeskin. He removed all her cards, money, license and so on from the wallet and put those both aside. Then he looked at the girl and suddenly felt strange. He took a deep breath and started taking off her clothes and shoes, putting them aside with the purse and wallet.

Then she was in just her underwear, which was a lot less fabric than one would think it would be. Demetri walked around the bed several times, back and forth. He was trying to clear his head the best he could and think of a way to do this quick. The fact that she was asleep was enough to make the situation go by a lot faster. He just wanted to go to Heidi. She said she wasn't mad at him, but he knew she was lying. He'd known, and loved, the woman long enough to know when she was mad and lying about it. It took Demetri some time, but he finally decided he had enough control of himself and was calm enough to go through with what Aro wanted him to do.

Once Demetri finally felt ready, he climbed into the bed and got started. He didn't know her like Alec knew Gianna. And she was a very beautiful girl. Demetri was hoping that it wouldn't take as long as it had taken Alec. He didn't bother with foreplay of any kind. That seemed like a waste. He simply relied on his male imagination, and went with it. She didn't stir the whole time. He would worry that she might be dead if he didn't hear her heart and her breathing. When it was finally done, he didn't waste any time pulling himself away from her. He finally understood why Alec didn't want to see Gianna after they'd slept together. Aside from the fact that he didn't like her, there was so much guilt. Drinking human blood was the only thing in his whole vampire life that made him feel more inhuman than what he'd just done. He'd never raped a girl before. Not even when he was planning on killing them. It had always seemed so wrong. But unlike Alec, he felt like he owed this woman. Demetri had planned on leaving as soon as he was done, but now he couldn't bring himself to. So he got dressed again, covered her with the bed's blankets, and found a chair in the room and took a seat near the bed.

Heidi and everyone else were still downstairs doing whatever. After four hours, Aro became extremely impatient with Demetri. He could see him taking his time with a woman he loved, but four hours was hardly plausible timing to rape someone that was passed out. After another hour, Aro really did lose all his patience. He looked over at Renata, who was talking and laughing with Chelsea and Afton.

"Renata." Renata looked up and was at Aro's side in a millisecond.

"Yes, Aro?"

"Find out what's taking Demetri so long." Renata nodded.

"Yes, Aro." Then Renata left the room and made her way to the staircase towards the upstairs rooms. As she was running down the hallway, Heidi was walking out of the lobby towards the main room. "Heidi." Heidi looked up and faced Renata.

"What?"

"Come with me upstairs. Aro's losing his patients." In truth, he'd already lost it all, but that wasn't important at the moment.

"Why do I need to come upstairs?"

"Because, I don't want to risk seeing Demetri naked. I assume you wouldn't mind." Heidi gave Renata a lecturing look. Heidi had never told her that she liked Demetri. She pretty much figured it out all on her own. But she had a habit of poking fun at Heidi about it, sometimes at the most inappropriate times.

"Would you shut up?"

"Come upstairs with me and I will." Heidi sighed and rolled her eyes before making her way up the stairs in front of Renata. It took them seconds to reach the room Demetri was in. They didn't need to knock on the door. Demetri already knew they were there.

"You can come in." They heard Demetri say from the other side of the door. Renata shied away from the door and told Heidi she would stay outside the room. Heidi let herself into the room and was surprised when she saw Demetri sitting in a chair near the bed while the girl laid there asleep and under the covers. "I snatched her stuff for you." Demetri got up from his chair and started walking to the corner of the room where he'd left the girl's stuff.

"Did you?" Heidi wasn't really looking at the stuff. She was looking at the girl. She felt a fury build in her when she looked at that girl. There was no point in denying why. But she certainly wasn't going to say it.

"Yeah. And she had a flat red snakeskin wallet that I think you'll really like." Heidi looked at Demetri again. She'd already seen it, but why ruin the moment?

"Really?" Demetri smiled sweetly and nodded.

"Yeah. I know how much you love snakeskin." Heidi and Demetri laughed under their breath together a moment while he handed her all the clothes and things.

"That's very true." Then she looked at the girl again. "So it's done?" Demetri nodded his head and Renata left as soon as she had that gesture as an answer.

"I finished a few hours ago." Heidi gave Demetri a surprised expression.

"Why didn't you come downstairs then?"

"Because. I feel guilty. Human or not, what I did was wrong. This girl was none the wiser and now she's going to die in a few days just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I feel bad about all this." Heidi's face went from surprised to aggravated. Her fury towards the girl grew all the more to hear Demetri seem to care.

"Since when does killing a human make you feel bad? You do it all the time." Demetri kept his voice calm and he tried not to give Heidi a hard expression.

"That's to survive. Besides, that's a natural food chain. Rap is different from that. Rap isn't natural."

"Even so. Alec didn't feel bad about it."

"Well, I'm not Alec. And he does feel bad. He just expressed it in a different way than what I plan to."

"And you know this for a fact?" Heidi's tone was sarcastic with that statement. Demetri's face remained calm.

"It doesn't take much to guess. Besides, he's kept himself secluded in one of the tower rooms since Santino was born."

"That was less than twenty four hours ago. And Aro ordered him to fix the problem, so that's what he's trying to do. That hardly means anything." Demetri shook his head lightly.

"He said to try and fix the problem yes, but Aro also said that if he can't, then to just let the child die. If Alec didn't feel guilty for what happened or didn't care at all, he would have attempted once and left it at that. But he's still trying to fix it."

"Alec's devoted, that's all. That hardly means he feels bad about Gianna. He hated Gianna."

"That's not the point Heidi." Heidi shrugged indifferently, though her mood was anything but.

"What is, then?" Demetri didn't really have an answer for her. He remained silent and went back to the chair he'd placed next to the bed. Heidi was about to say more, but didn't. She was getting angrier and yelling at Demetri wasn't going to make her feel better. If there was anyone she wanted to yell at, it was this girl. Or even Aro for making Demetri do this.

"Just let me handle this my way, okay Heidi. Let me go ahead and find some sort of closer in this whole thing."

Heidi looked at Demetri a moment with a heavy heart before she looked at the ground for a second, then dashed off to go somewhere in the castle or the roof to be alone. Through the night, Demetri stayed sitting next to the bed watching the girl intently making sure she was sobering up and starting to feel better. As Demetri was doing that, Alec was in one of the other rooms looking at his son. Nothing he was doing was working. If anything, he was making it worse. He wondered if maybe there was a medical thing he could do to help his son, but immediately shot down the idea. If his son had any medical condition, it was that he was in a permanent comma. He was lifeless, like any person in a comma. What made Alec feel worse was that it was entirely his fault. He couldn't even blame Gianna a little bit for this. If Gianna had a power that would have been present in her vampire form, then it would have shown itself in Santino in some way. But that wasn't the case. Either that, or Alec's gift had made Santino too brain dead to be able to use his power if he had one.

At this point, Alec was simply looking at Santino, watching his blank expression remain ever unchanging on his cute face. He was still growing at the rate that Renesmee supposedly had. Alec found that to be a relief at least. He was hoping that maybe Santino would be able to come out of this okay and would just have a very complex gift that he would have to keep in check to make sure it didn't work against him. But Alec was already losing faith. Nothing he thought of seemed reasonable or it always had something wrong with it. Alec realized that night that there really was nothing he could do. Nothing he tried or could try would ever work. Alec clung to the hope that maybe Santino would grow out of this. Maybe he would learn to conquer it somehow. That was the only hope Alec had for Santino. So he looked after Santino and remained, for the most part, separated from everyone else except for Jane. Jane simply crowded Alec asking him to leave Santino be and just let him die. Or better yet, kill him himself, she'd even said to him. Alec remained completely emotionless in front of Jane and everyone else who saw him. To all others, Alec simply looked hateful and indifferent of Santino's wellbeing, no matter how far from the truth that was.

The next morning after Demetri'd captured and rapped his victim, she woke up around one in the afternoon with what Demetri could tell was a throbbing migraine. She looked so hung over that the sound of a mouse squeaking from across the room would be like a drill to the head. She didn't notice at first that she wasn't in an unfamiliar place. Her head hurt so much that it was really the last thing she cared about at the time. Demetri kept his voice quiet for her sake when he finally did talk to her.

"We have some Excedrin if you want any." She looked towards the silky, masculine baritone voice that she heard coming from her left. When she saw the man, she was awe struck. He was so handsome. Beautiful even, but in a really masculine way. Even his long hair seemed to be beautiful on him. To her, it made him look exotic. But his skin was extremely pale. Far too pale for even a Northern Italian.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Demetri kept his same face, which was blank.

"Who I am isn't important. As to where you are isn't really important either. You don't need to know where you are. Just know that you won't be here for very long." Demetri's voice was oddly calm as he spoke. The girl felt her stomach turn. She thought it was nervousness, until she felt it force its way up her throat. Demetri knew what was happening and pulled himself and his chair away from her so she could vomit over the side of the bed. Then she started coughing, only to vomit again.

"My god! What did you eat, child?" Demetri looked at the doorway and saw Athenadora and Sulpicia standing there. Athenadora had been the one to speak while Sulpicia remained politely quiet.

The girl looked over at the two women in the doorway, and was floored once again by their beauty. Both women were flawless with fair hair and powdery skin. One was simply more voluptuous than the other. She assumed that the one that spoke was the one in front holding open the door. The other woman stood behind and was waiting. She wasn't sure what for, but she looked like she was being patient. It seemed oddly nerve racking and uncomfortable.

"So this is the girl?" She looked over to Demetri and he nodded at Athenadora.

"Yes. I found her last night."

"Well, no shit, Demetri. I also hear she was drunk out of her mind." Demetri simply nodded his head in response. "Good. I'm sure that made everything a walk in the park." Then Athenadora looked at the girl with an evil grin. "You're in for one hell of a pregnancy my dear." With that, Athenadora and Sulpicia walked away from the room and went back down to the main room leaving Demetri with her, seeing as Heidi informed them that Demetri planned to stay there and keep an eye on her.

"What the hell are they talking about." The girl asked when she looked at Demetri. She couldn't make her voice as hostile as she wanted seeing as her head hurt so bad.

"You're pregnant. What more is there to talk about?" Demetri was being sarcastic, but she didn't pick up on that.

"There's plenty more to talk about. How about telling me why I'm pregnant?! Or how you know already?! How about we talk about those little details you rapping son of a bitch?!" Demetri kept his expression the same even as the girl was yelling at him with all the air she had in her lungs. Demetri let out a breath and finally spoke.

"For starters, you just vomited all over the floor."

"I'm hung over. That's what a hangover does to you."

"Not really. People vomit when they're drunk. When they're hung over they just feel like their twice their weight and like their head's about to crack in half."

"Even so, what you did happened last night. You can't know I'm pregnant. And for that matter, why do you want me pregnant in the first place?! It's called adoption dipshit, and it's actually legal! You should try it sometime."

"Adoption doesn't give me a half vampire child." The girl was speechless a moment. She looked at Demetri with shock and anger in her eyes. She shook her head once to clear her throbbing head before she spoke.

"I'm sorry, I think I'm hearing things. You what?"

"I'm a vampire. You're human. Us having a child would result in a hybrid. A half bread. Some cultures call this a Dhampir or a Dunpeal."

"You can't be serious."

"I am serious. You'll be pregnant for two weeks or so before you have the baby. And when you do, you probably won't live through the birthing. And even if you do, Athenadora and Sulpicia will drink your blood and kill you themselves."

"So you've knocked me up so you could have a half monster and you have no intention of letting me get through this alive?" Demetri felt bad when he heard her put it that way. It seemed so wrong to do this. But he didn't let that show.

"That's the basic gist of what's happening, yes." She looked at Demetri with a cold and hateful stare. She hadn't even noticed her clothes and stuff was nowhere to be found. She started looking around the room to look for her purse and clothes, but she didn't see them. She looked at Demetri with the same cold stare.

"Where the hell are my clothes?" Demetri didn't make a physical response. He only answered with an indifferent tone.

"They aren't here. You won't need them anyway. You aren't going anywhere."

"Like hell I'm not!" Demetri sighed under his breath as the girl started rummaging off the bed, clearly not having any sense of balance and in no position to run.

When she was finally on her feet, she took a moment to regain her balance, far too hung over to care that she was naked, and started running, or power walking at best, to the door trying to get away. Demetri followed after her, not making an effort to catch up to her. She kept walking away and opened the door to get out to the hallway. She made it to the large staircase and began to carefully step down. On the third step, she lost her balance and fell. She was caught by a pair of hard, cold arms. She looked up and saw Demetri was the one holding her and she stared wide eyed.

"How did you do that?"

"Need I remind you that you're surrounded by vampires? Even in a sober condition, you won't be able to run away from us. I suggest you stop while you're ahead. If you anger Aro, he'll have Athenadora and Sulpicia take their time with killing you once the baby's born."

"Who the hell are Aro, Athenadora and Sulpicia?"

"Aro's my coven leader. Sulpicia is his mate. Athenadora is the mate to another one of my coven leaders. And those two are ruthless. I'm telling you this for your own good."

"What the fuck does it matter? You're going to kill me."

"I'm helping you pick between a quick and painless death or a painful torturous death. The more trouble you cause, the more pain you'll be in later." She was about to say more, but Demetri lifted her into his arms and started walking back to the room. When they were back, he placed her down on the bed and went to a little dresser in the room and threw a nightgown at her. "That's the best I can offer."

The girl looked at the dress and looked back at Demetri. She scowled at him a moment before she gave in and put on the silk nightgown. It was extremely old looking, but it was at least a breathable fabric. After she was dressed, another beautiful woman came into the room. Her hair was a stunning mahogany color and her skin was also really pale. They both had deep scarlet eyes. She was holding a plastic bag that she instantly knew was blood. She felt herself get sick again and she vomited. Heidi scrunched her nose a little before she looked at Demetri again.

"Does she remember anything?" Heidi asked Demetri. He shook his head.

"What does it matter?" He wasn't trying to be mean. It was a rhetorical question. Heidi stayed quiet and placed the plastic bag of donated blood on the night stand.

"Get her to drink this." Then she looked at the floor. "And clean that up. I can smell it from downstairs."

"I'm the one in here, how do you think I feel?"

"You decided to stay up here, so that's your fault. Get her to drink the blood. I'll come back later to give you a knew bag." With that, Heidi left the room. Demetri looked after her long after she was gone. She was getting angrier at him and he didn't like it.

"I'm not drinking that." Demetri looked at the girl who was now stubbornly staring down the plastic bag and had her arms crossed over her chest.

"You are. And you'll like it."

"No I won't." Demetri looked at her a moment, already fed up with her stubbornness. He left the room for an instant and come back with stuff to clean the mess on the floor. Once that was clean and disposed of, Demetri came back and took the plastic bag and brought it to her. "I said no."

"I don't care what you said. Drink it, or I'll force you." She remained stubborn and sat on the bed with her arms crossed. Demetri had enough and took her chin in his hand. He forced her mouth open and poured the blood down her throat. She tried to resist drinking it, but it actually tasted good. And she couldn't breathe with it filling her mouth, so she drank it. When it was all gone, Demetri placed the empty bag on the bed stand and took a seat in his chair again. "Next time, I don't want to have to do it for you."

"I'm not going to let you get away with this."

"Miss, I don't have any patience for this. Please just cooperate and your stay here will be much more comfortable. I'd rather it be that way as opposed to the alternative."

"Well, I don't care if you don't have patience for this. I won't let up until you guys kill this baby and let me go. Or I'll kill the baby myself." Demetri was above her holding both her hands in a crushing grip with his face close to hers.

"I wouldn't. You kill this baby, we'll only try again. And again, and again. Until you can't fight anymore. Any stubborn mule can be broken, keep that in mind." Demetri let go of her and sat back in his seat next to the bed while the girl tried to recover and pull herself into a sitting position onto the bed. She avoided eye contact with Demetri after that.

Suddenly, the door opened again. It was Athenadora at the door looking into the room. She had a slightly amused look on her face as she looked around. Her face became relieved when she saw that the floor was finally clean. The girl wasn't looking at her for long. She looked at her hands playing around with her fingers, almost like she was trying to patch her dignity back together. She'd never been pushed around like that before, not even by a man. It was bizarre to be put in her place for lack of a better word. A lot of people were scared of her because she was so tough. It was the first time she'd met a person that wasn't intimidated by her attitude and her spunk.

"I see you handled everything." Demetri nodded.

"Everything's fine now, Athenadora."

"Just making sure. We heard yelling and something about an attempt to kill the baby." Athenadora glared at the girl, but she wasn't paying attention to her. "We simply wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Everything's fine, Athenadora, like I said. I've handled it." Athenadora grinned amused.

"If you say so." With that, Athenadora closed the door and ran back to the main room to let Aro in on what was going on.

"She's the one you need to be nice to. Sulpicia's a little nicer than her. But keep in mind not to anger either of them."

"I don't care." Demetri looked at the girl and started feeling even worse. She looked crushed. She also looked like she was forcing the tears not to come. He kept his distance, though. Nothing he said would make this better, so it was better to not say anything at all.

Later in the day, Heidi came back with another plastic bag filled with blood. When she'd dropped it off, she took the empty bag and left the room. Demetri handed the donated blood to the girl so she could drink it herself. She tried pouring it out over the side of the bed, but Demetri was faster and was forcing it down her throat before she could even turn her wrist forty five degrees. When the contents were all gone, he put it back on the nightstand and continued to sit next to the bed and keep an eye on the girl. The next morning, Heidi brought donated blood again and rested it on the nightstand without a word to Demetri. Demetri watched her leave, feeling a pain over her anger. She was bringing the anger out on him whether she really was mad at him or not. Demetri didn't need to force feed the girl this time. She took the blood and sipped on it at a slow pace still not saying anything to Demetri. He didn't say anything to her either. When she was done, she threw it at him and fell on the bed and turned on her side so her back was facing him. Demetri ignored it and placed the bag on the nightstand and waited for Heidi to get it.

"Where's my ID, my money, my cards? Where are they?" She finally asked.

"I told you. We disposed of them." His voice stayed calm, which made her laugh a little without humor.

"You don't even care what my name is do you?"

"No." It wasn't that Demetri didn't care as much as he didn't want to know. Knowing this girl's name would make her more human. It would give her an identity and he didn't want that. Unknown to most, Demetri had a hard time killing something when he saw it as a person, which meant knowing their name and things about them. The less Demetri knew about this woman, the easier it would be to let her die. But that wasn't her business.

"Figures." She didn't say anything more about it. Her name was Victoria Brocilli. But he didn't care about that. He didn't care that she was born and raised in Volterra and was engaged and was supposed to get married this summer to the love of her life and have children and had a career at a powerful law firm in the city where she was well thought of and people looked to her for advice. He didn't care. So she didn't push the matter.

Victoria didn't talk to Demetri at all for the rest of the day. She stayed with her back to him until Heidi came back with more blood. She sat up to drink it, threw it at him when she was done, then went back on her side and fell asleep. She was woken up by an odd feeling. It was like something was moving. She groaned at the feeling when it started being continuous. Then it finally stopped a moment. She opened her eyes and touched the spot where she'd felt the movement and her eyes went wide when she felt it. She sat up in the bed and pressed her hand in that spot. It was a bump. The little tell tale bump that said she was pregnant. If the morning sickness from the first day hadn't been indication enough, the little moving bump was all she needed to know for sure.

"Oh my god." Demetri came to attention and stood next to the bed. He took Victoria's hand out of the way and put his hand where hers hand been. He felt the little nudge, and he was actually fighting a smile. He didn't get why he'd enjoyed that so much.

"I guess we know for sure now."

"It looks like it." Victoria still wasn't looking at Demetri. She was staring at the now obvious little bump on her stomach. The baby stopped moving for a moment then squirmed again. The baby seemed to always be moving, like it couldn't find a comfortable spot in its bed.

"What's going on?" Victoria hadn't heard Heidi come into the room. Demetri looked at Heidi, still keeping his face more or less expressionless.

"The baby moved." Heidi's face didn't change much. But she felt her blood boil. She knew Demetri. And she heard that small, well hidden hint of excitement in his voice. And she wasn't the reason he had it.

"I see." She walked over and handed Demetri the donated blood. "A moving baby needs their food, then. I'll go tell Aro." With that, she left. Demetri looked back at Victoria's stomach for a second after Heidi left and handed her the blood.

"What she said." Victoria didn't say anything. She only took the blood and started drinking it slowly. The baby seemed to start kicking more when she did. It must be excited.

As usual, when she was done with the blood, she threw the plastic bag at Demetri and went on her side with her back facing him. Once again, they didn't speak after that. She fell asleep and kept hoping she was dreaming. She had an odd dream that night. It was a dream she'd had many times before and she'd always felt happy in that dream. Pan's Labyrinth had been her favorite movie ever since she'd first seen it. She would watch it over and over again every day and had never gotten bored with it. She would always wish that something like that could happen to her. No one knew about the obsession, not even her mother or fiancé. She dreamt that she was in the castle she was in currently, but that a satyr had come to her and told her little tasks she needed to do to escape and come home to her father king. All the while, she heard the song play in her head many times. In the end, the vampire at her bedside wasn't the one who drank her blood, which she found odd. It was someone else. He looked similar to the man that was next to her, but he was younger, more beautiful even. She could swear this child had her eyes. And her smile.

When the vampire bit her, he didn't drink her blood. He only placed her hand over the Labyrinth and let her bleed, making it possible for her to go back to her father king. But before her blood spilled into the labyrinth, the vampire told her one thing. Dante. She woke up after embracing her father king and mother queen. She felt peaceful again for the first time in days. She rolled over on the bed so she was on her back and facing the ceiling. It was a very strange ending to her usual dream. In the dream, it normally went exactly like the movie. But this time, there were many differences. One of which being the way she died. Dante. It was a pretty name. And the vampire had been such a beautiful child. Even looking so much like the vampire that held her captive.

"Dante." Demetri looked at Victoria with a confused look.

"Who?" Victoria looked at Demetri and shook her head.

"Nothing." Then she looked back at the ceiling and watched the light come in through the window and hit the wall across from her. She felt her little bump, but it wasn't so little anymore. It had grown.

"How is it?" She looked at Demetri again, not sure what he was asking at first. Then she looked at her stomach and rubbed it again. She felt a little nudge from the baby. Dante.

"He's fine." Demetri kept a straight face. Though he felt a hint of pride all of a sudden.

"You think it's a boy?" Victoria nodded.

"I know he is." She started rubbing her belly affectionately thinking the name Dante over and over again. Then she began to hum to the baby. It was the lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth, just like in her dream.

Demetri was taken back when she started humming. Just the other day, she was threatening to kill the baby. Now she was humming the Pan's Labyrinth lullaby to it. He couldn't believe she was suddenly so calm. After a moment, Heidi came in with the donated blood and was just as surprised as Demetri when she saw Victoria stroking her stomach like a proud mother and humming a song. She tried to ignore her and walked to Demetri to hand him the blood. Demetri took Heidi's hand before she could leave and placed the blood on the nightstand.

"Drink this." Victoria looked at what Demetri was pointing at, and for the first time since she was here, took the blood and drank it enthusiastically. Heidi and Demetri gave her a strange look a moment before they disregarded it and Demetri led Heidi outside the room. When they were alone and he'd closed the door, Heidi was the first one to talk, but not about what Demetri was wanting.

"What's caused her sudden change of heart?" Demetri shrugged.

"I don't know. I'm not sure I really want to know. But that's not what I want to talk about." Heidi looked at Demetri reluctantly. "What's the matter with you? You've hardly said a word to me these past few days. I thought you said you weren't mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Then what are you so mad about?" Heidi remained silent for a good two minutes. Demetri waited patiently for Heidi to finally speak. She didn't want to tell him why. At first, she'd only disliked the girl because she got something she'd always wanted and after knowing him as a drunk for a mere five minutes before she passed out. And to top it off, she saw the look in Demetri's eyes when he noticed the baby kick. To put it bluntly, she was jealous. No more to it than that. But she didn't want to say it.

"I don't like her. Let's leave it at that." Heidi walked away without saying anything more. Demetri wanted to follow her, but decided it would be better not to. If it really was just about the girl, then maybe he could fix everything and make things normal between them once she was dead.

Demetri walked back into the room and took his seat next to Victoria again. She didn't acknowledge him at all or throw the plastic bag at him. This time, it was neatly placed on the nightstand where he'd first put it. She was still humming the same song to her belly, still rubbing it affectionately. Demetri couldn't understand the sudden change of heart, but he figured it was for the best. The more she loved the baby, the more she would be willing to cooperate with him and the others. After a few hours, she started telling the baby stories. And she kept telling the baby these stories for the rest of the days she was pregnant. Each story was mysterious and childlike, like any usual children's story. But each story ended the same. The child always went back to his home. Not the home from before, but the home the child was always meant to be in. Demetri even found himself enjoying these stories. They made life seem so joyous and simple. Like everything in the world was possible. All you had to do was earn it.

The story Demetri liked the best was the story of a little boy named Dante. The name she'd said the morning she'd had her change of heart. It was the story of a little boy who was in a home where his parents were cruel to him because he looked nothing like them. He was far more beautiful than his evil, ugly parents. One day, Dante had went out to pick olives and ended up following a trail of garlic heads until he reached a cave. Dante, being a curious little boy, entered the cave to see what was inside. But once he'd entered, the cave had sealed itself shut and locked him inside. With no other option, he went into the cave and followed a trail of candles that had suddenly lit to his left and to his right.

He traveled into the cave following the trail of candles that were lit for him, slowly gaining a comfortable confidence as he walked through the cave. But after an hour of walking and the cave remaining uneventful, there was suddenly a cloud of pink and purple flowers surrounding him. Then the flowers left him and started spinning a few feet in front of him. Then the small tornado of flowers began to form a girl. She was a beautiful girl with dark brown hair and tan skin. She wore a leaf hat and roses in her ponytail and she wore a fitted dress and shoes made out of leaves with purple and pink spring flowers all over her dress and around her wrists like bracelets. She was about Dante's height, looking like a little girl herself.

She introduced herself as Ofelia, Dante's guardian, who was supposed to show him the way home. Ofelia told Dante that he needed to follow the trail made for him by the lit candles. He could chose between two ways of going through the cave. If he stayed within the lit trail, all he would have to do is go through three tests, each would be harder than the first. And if he failed any of the tests, he would be stuck in the cave forever. Or he could chose to take the short cut through the cave and not have to pass any tests. But he would, instead, have to fight off an evil monster that lived in the cave. It was a much faster route, but also far more dangerous. There was a complicated strategy to defeating the monster and he would have to know exactly what to do before entering into the fight, or he would surely die. Ofelia warned him that, no matter which choice he made, she was not allowed to help him. She could only show him the way.

Dante thought long and hard about what he should do. He could take the long way and go through three tests, or he could take the shortcut and face an evil monster. He wasn't sure what those three tests would be. When he asked Ofelia, she said she couldn't tell him. And he didn't know how long the trail would be if he took the 'easy' way out. But he would get out much faster if he went the short route and fought with the monster. Dante thought about it and came to the decision to take the shortcut and fight the monster. Ofelia nodded her head and all the candles in the cave blew out. Dante was scared at first, but then he saw another light. It was Ofelia. She was now glowing blue, helping Dante be able to see right in front of him.

Ofelia led Dante down the trail that led to the monster. But Dante wondered if there were things he should look for to help him fight the monster. With Ofelia's help, Dante looked around the cave trying to find anything he might be able to use. Ofelia made her light brighter so Dante would be able to see more in the cave. With her help, he was able to find a sword that had Latin inscriptions on each side of the blade. He also noticed that the sword had little indentations which made little sharp pockets. He looked around the cave and looked for anything else that he might be able to use. What he found was a large bottle filled with a clear substance. He looked around to find a label as to what it could possibly be. But he didn't find one.

He didn't find anything else in the cave as he searched. He looked all over with Ofelia's guiding light until she grabbed him and pulled him back. Suddenly, a bright light come on in another part of the cave. It was the candle light he remembered from earlier. When Ofelia let go of him, Dante eased closer to the entrance to see that the monster looked like. It was a large monster, about the size of the average man. But this monster was horribly disfigured. It had no eyes or mouth or even ears, but two single holes to make a nose. The rested of the body was bald and grey and looked like the skin of a lizard. Dante knew that he had to have an organized plan in place before he went in there or he would surely die. Ofelia remained silent, not telling him anything, like she was supposed to. Dante remembered that he had a large basket filled with garlic and olives to his advantage. He took out four olives and threw them at the monster. They landed to his left. The monster immediately reacted by inhaling the air. It followed the scent of the olives and appeared to eat them before he went into his original standing position.

It was clear to Dante that the creature had a strong sense of smell, but when he placed the Olive right in front of the doorway, the monster didn't react. It appeared its senses only worked within its little space. Then Dante remembered his sword. He thought he could simply go in and stab the creature and be done with it. But then he also remembered the bottle of clear liquid. He opened it and poured only a drop onto a rock. That rock instantly disintegrated. To be sure, Dante did his best to splash it onto the monster. It hurt the monster, but he healed instantly. Dante then threw a sharp rock at the monster, producing the same response. Dante was beginning to think it was impossible, but Ofelia assured him that he was almost right. Dante looked at the sword and the liquid, not sure what to do. But he looked at the little pockets that were on the sword. They looked like they could be closed.

Just to test, Dante poured a drop of the liquid onto the sword. He expected it to immediately be eaten away, but instead, the liquid was guided down the sword into one of the little pockets. Dante started pouring more onto the sword and didn't stop until all the pockets had sealed themselves. There were only pockets on the one side. Dante decided he was ready to face the monster. He threw his basket of olives and garlic into the little room and watched the monster attack the basket. Then Dante went into the room and started approaching the beast. But as soon as he walked through the entry, the monster looked in his direction. Suddenly he had a mouth and it was filled with bloody fangs. The monster started roaring and made its way to Dante, but he broke the bottle onto the monster's head, where it burned half his head. But it recovered still. Dante sliced it's chest over its heart with the tip of his sword, but it still did nothing. Dante walked around the beast while it was crouched in pain and went to the door that was in the room. But it was sealed shut. There wasn't anything on the door that could help him open it. Then he heard the growl again and looked towards the monster which was now charging towards him with its teeth bared. Dante held up the sword as a last defense and the whole sword went right through the monster's heart. When it fell, Ofelia hugged Dante and congratulated him for beating the monster.

Then Ofelia said a little chant in Latin and opened the door in the room. It opened to a large field that led to a lovely cottage. In front of the cottage were two people that were just as beautiful and looked just like Dante. Victoria always ended the story with, 'And he found where he really belonged'. Demetri remained quiet while listening to these stories and would be amazed at how much he enjoyed some of her stories. They all kept him intrigued and wanting to know the ending. And she would keep humming the same song to him over and over again while she rubbed her belly tenderly and lovingly.

Days passed and her belly kept growing. To everyone's surprise and joy, Victoria cooperated and was no longer stubborn and fighting everyone off. Sulpicia and Athenadora started spending time in the room with Demetri to keep an eye on her until it was time. She told her stories and hummed her song to the baby, all the while annoying Athenadora and Sulpicia with the repetitiveness of it. Eventually, the baby was far enough along that it was actually responding to most of the things Victoria was saying.

When it was finally time, Victoria hardly made so much as a peep from the pain. Not even when Athenadora and Sulpicia ripped her open to get the baby. The baby was sure to bite her wrist before they managed to pull him away. Sulpicia started drinking her blood while Athenadora handed the baby to Demetri, told him it was a boy, then went back to help Sulpicia. Demetri immediately noticed something very strange about this child. He couldn't hear a tenor from him. He looked at his son and saw how cute he really was. He might not be able to hear his tenor, but he could bring himself to really care at the moment. He looked just like him. He had his mother's smile and eyes, but everything else was Demetri. There was no doubt to anyone who looked at this child that this boy was Demetri's. He looked into the room a moment, then looked back at the baby.

"Dante." The baby smiled when he heard Demetri say his name. It seemed he already knew his name.

Demetri walked to the main room, but never took his eyes off his son. He wasn't sure what his face looked like at the moment. All he could tell was that Dante enjoyed looking at it. When they were in the main room, Caius and Aro practically leaped off their thrones and ran to Demetri to see Dante.

"Please tell me he's alive." When Aro saw Dante, fully alert and fully conscious, he smiled for the first time in almost a month. "At last."

"And sir."

"Yes?" Demetri breathed in needlessly before he spoke. Everyone was paying attention to them and what was going on.

"I can't hear his tenor." Aro looked confused a moment.

"You can't hear his tenor?" Demetri nodded. Then Aro's grin became wider. "My, my. I believe your son is immune to your gift. Just like little Renesmee is immune to her mother's gift. It's literally the reverse of your power. You can track, your son can't be tracked. This is truly wonderful." Caius smiled a little when Aro said that.

"It's about time this experiment of yours worked Aro." Aro nodded.

"You're damned right." Aro's voice was cheerful and upbeat again. "So, Demetri, what are we calling this little addition?" Demetri was about to talk, but Caius interrupted.

"We need to name him? Why?" Aro swatted his hand in front of Caius to silence him.

"You were saying, Demetri?" Demetri hesitated only a moment, making sure he wouldn't interrupted Caius or Marcus.

"Dante." Aro grinned a little more.

"Wonderful." He came a little closer to Demetri to see Dante. Dante looked so much like Demetri. He had his nose, and chin, and ears. He even had Dante's hands and feet and was a little bigger than most little babies at twelve pounds four ounces. "He's a beauty." Then Aro looked over Demetri's shoulder at Renata. "Renata, be a doll and fetch that crib you snatched the other day." Renata nodded and went off to get it.

"You really think this child's immune to Demetri, Aro?" Caius asked. Aro nodded.

"I'm certain. Demetri being a tracker, it would only make sense that Dante be immune to trackers. This is a useful gift indeed, wouldn't you agree?" Caius was finally smiling fully and nodded his head.

"Indeed I do." Renata came back with the crib and Sulpicia, Athenadora, Heidi, and Felix coming in after her. Felix got to Demetri first to see Dante. He already heard what the baby's name was and he simply looked at the baby.

"Wow." Demetri looked at Felix.

"What?" Felix had an amused grin on his face.

"That's your baby, that's for damn sure. It's like a mini version of you." Then Heidi was at Demetri's side trying to look at Dante.

"He's a site to see. I'll give you that." Demetri was looking at Heidi now, and so was Dante. Dante took a hold of a lock of Heidi's hair and started playing with it, finding amusement in just twirling it around his fingers. Heidi looked at Dante and was taken aback by his smile. It wasn't Demetri's smile, but the smile was perfection on his face. Demetri kept a straight face, though he was secretly relieved that Heidi seemed to like him.

"So how does it feel to be a father, Demetri?" Aro asked unexpectedly. Demetri looked at Aro and shrugged.

"Fine I suppose." The truth was he didn't know what to feel. He was already fond of the boy, but it felt so odd. Aro laughed a little at Demetri's lack of reaction.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Demetri. I'm just relieved the child came out okay." Caius nodded in agreement and seemed to finally be relaxed a little. He relaxed even more when Athenadora came down to the main room and hugged him, whispering in his ear that the girl was dead.

Demetri looked at Dante wondering if he heard that. Evidently he had because he was looking at Athenadora, but it didn't seem to bother him. He simply kept playing with Heidi's hair and had a big smile on his face. Heidi was stunned by Dante. He was such a beautiful child and he looked so much like Demetri. Demetri was looking at Dante too. It really was like looking in the mirror. He simply had his mother's eyes and smile.

"Demetri." Demetri looked up at Aro. "Don't let that boy out of your sight. Just because you don't want him doesn't mean I'll allow you to slack off." Demetri held back a look of offense at Aro and simply nodded his head.

"Yes, Aro." Aro smiled and embraced Sulpicia when she was finally close enough to him, not acknowledging Demetri and Dante anymore.

Demetri walked out of the main room and made his way to the library. He wanted to get away from everyone for the time being. He didn't hear anyone's tenor coming from the library, so he knew he could be alone. He heard Heidi's tenor stay close to him, but that didn't bother him. With any luck, maybe everything was okay now. When he was in the library, he took a seat on the couch and just looked at Dante. Dante's eyes were wondering around, getting a good look at everything around him. Demetri's face was blank as he looked at Dante. He never thought he would ever, in a million years, ever have a child, let alone a son. He wasn't sure how to feel. He was still mad about Aro forcing him into fatherhood, but at the same time, he had to admit to himself that he felt a little pride when he looked at Dante's face.

"I'm sorry I was being such a bitch these past few days." Demetri looked at Heidi when she spoke and smiled at her. When he answered her, his tone was teasing.

"Heidi, please. There's a child present." Heidi smiled and looked at Dante.

"I'm sorry Dante." Dante looked at Heidi at the mention of his name and smiled back at her. Heidi took a seat next to Demetri and kept looking at Dante, not really smiling or frowning at him. "But I am sorry about how I was acting. I was bringing my aggravation out on you and that was childish and inappropriate of me and I'm really sorry."

"It's alright. Just promise you'll stop. I don't like not talking. It's weird." Heidi smiled and nodded.

"It is. I promise I'll stop." Heidi then looked at Dante and noticed he'd fallen asleep. "He's already sleeping." Demetri looked at Dante when she said that and finally smiled a little.

"I've got to admit I envy him. Being able to make the world go away simply by closing his eyes."

"I envy that you can't hear his tenor. That's one hell of a power. Aro's happy about it, that's for sure." Demetri shrugged.

"That's good." Demetri didn't really care, but that wasn't something one said aloud.

A few days passed, and Dante was already growing. And he playing with Heidi's hair every chance he got. Heidi would tolerate it for a minute before she would smack his hand and tell him to stop. Dante was talking within a few short days. His first word was dad, which made Demetri feel a joy that he'd never felt before. That feeling got stronger when Dante learned how to walk. Demetri had put Dante down for a minute about to do something for Aro when Dante simply started following him. He hadn't even noticed until someone said, 'look, Dante's walking'. Demetri just watched as his son walked the distance between them and fall right on his butt the second he'd reached him. After that, Demetri looked at Dante, not sure what his face looked like. Dante's expression was probably close to his. Dante's expression was indifferent, as if walking was something he did every day.

Caius yelled at Demetri to get on with what he'd been doing, and Demetri did so, but not without Dante continuing to follow after him. That same day, Demetri had done everything Aro had asked him to and was about ready to go back to the main room with Dante. But when he turned around, Dante wasn't there. Instinctually, he listened for Dante's tenor, knowing long before that Dante didn't have one. Demetri tried to remain calm and retraced his steps. Never before in his entire existence had he ever lost someone until today. Not once. And how here he was franticly looking for Dante with a forced mask of relaxation. The last thing he needed was for someone to walk by, see the panic in his face, and later get yelled at for losing his own son.

To Demetri's relief, everyone was staying where they were, so he was hoping being caught wouldn't be a problem. Demetri followed Dante's scent, not having any other way to look for him. Demetri got nervous when he noticed Dante's scent was going down into the basement of the castle where Aro, Caius, and Marcus kept all their valuables and dangerous old weaponry. Demetri relaxed for an instant when Dante's scent was really strong, meaning he'd found him. But that relief was in tatters the moment he saw what Dante was doing. Dante was playing around with some of the old torture devices that were in the basement. At the moment, he was playing with the pendulum.

"Dante!!" Dante looked at Demetri with concern in his eyes, not sure what he was doing wrong. When he was close enough, which was within half a millisecond, Demetri stopped the pendulum by taking the blade in his hand and holding it until it was steady, never even piercing his skin.

"What?" Dante asked Demetri innocently. Demetri tried to relax before he spoke.

"Dante, you don't ever come down here, understood?"

"Why?"

"Because these things are all dangerous and you'll get hurt." Demetri had raised his voice a little at Dante, which wasn't much like him. He was usually so calm. Dante knew this and he was surprised by it.

"I'll be okay."

"Obviously not. This pendulum blade would have gone right through your head if I hadn't gotten here in time." Dante shook his head stubbornly.

"No it wouldn't. I would've dodged." Demetri's expression was only getting angrier. It added more stress to the situation to realize that, of all the things to get from his mother, it had to be her stubbornness.

"Then why were you looking at me and not moving?"

"I was distracted."

"Exactly, you were distracted. And that's why it's a good thing I was able to stop this blade before it went through you thin little skull. And I would've been dead shortly after explaining to Aro that I lost you and you ended up getting killed because you were playing with his fucking pendulum."

"I'm sorry, okay." Dante didn't want to talk anymore. It didn't take Dante long to figure out that the only reason his dad was only worried about getting Aro angry. Dante had come to the conclusion that if that were the case, dad wouldn't care either way.

"Just don't mess around down here, okay. I can't hear a tenor from you, so it's already harder for me to keep a close eye on you. I'd like it if you didn't make harder by wondering off without at least telling me you are."

"Yes, dad." With that, Demetri breathed an inaudible sigh of relief and patted Dante's back twice telling him to go in front of him and walk up the stairs and out of the basement.

Dante couldn't remember a single time that Demetri had smiled at him. Not a single time. If anything, his expression was angry whenever he did something wrong. And whenever he did something right, all he ever got was a pat on the head and a 'good job, Dante'. Demetri still wasn't used to this. Dante was already the size of a toddler and was talking and walking and wondering around on his own and it'd happened right before his eyes. He didn't know how Edward Cullen could tolerate such a fast pace growth. It was like Dante already didn't need him anymore, and it hurt. He'd held him in his arms only a few days before he was already walking on his own. And he felt all the worse because he never knew what to say to him or how to praise him for things he's done. He wanted to give Dante as good of a childhood as he could situation being what it was. The problem was he had no idea how. And there was no one he could talk to about how to do it.

No one was ever nice to Dante. Heidi seemed to resent him. She only had to swat away his hand twice before he never touched her hair again. Aro seemed to always subtly mock him and everyone else never bothered to so much as talk to him. Demetri was really the only one that ever talked to him at all and it was usually to tell him not to do something he was doing. He got scolded at after wondering away from him and going to the room where Alec was with Santino. Jane practically bit off his head when he came in while Alec barely acknowledged him and kept his face expressionless and cold. Then he got yelled at by his dad for wondering away again. Dante had learned real quick not to ever mess with Caius. He called him an old fart one time and had to stand behind Demetri for almost an hour while Caius yelled at them. Then Dante got yelled at by Demetri.

Everything stayed that way from then on. It started becoming so routine that Dante wasn't even scared of anyone anymore. He wasn't even scared to insult Caius anymore.

Also, Dante noticed that Alec never left Santino. He found that so strange considering he looked about as interested in him as one would be in a blank piece of paper. Alec pretty much ignored everyone for the next few months. When someone tried talking to him, even if it was Jane, he simply ignored them. Jane was furious with that. But Alec never really cared. He stayed with Santino still racking his brain for a solution. After a while, everyone finally started leaving him alone. Alec wasn't even feeding when Heidi would bring people. Dante never really gave this fact any thought. In truth, he didn't really care. Alec had tried feeding blood to Santino, but no matter what, he was never able to drink it. He couldn't use his muscles to swallow it and it always ended up in his lungs, choking him and putting Alec into a panic and trying to get it out of his lungs.

One day, late in the day while Alec was watching Santino, a sound was suddenly gone. It wasn't even an instant that passed before Alec knew what happened. He tried to remain calm. He started by gently trying to get his heart beating again and trying CPR. It still hadn't helped after five minutes, but Alec didn't let up. He kept going for twenty minutes before he finally looked at Santino and realized he really had been beaten. He stared at Santino so stunned, it was like his face was really frozen.

"It's about time." Alec didn't acknowledge Jane when he heard her say that. He just kept looking at Santino. Jane walked the distance between them and hugged Alec around his shoulders and sighed contentedly with her head against his back. "I missed having you all to myself. You're better off anyway."

Alec didn't react. He felt his blood boil, but he didn't react. Dante listened and felt appalled by Jane's words and actually felt ashamed to know her. He didn't know Santino any more than he was Alec's son and was pretty much brain dead, but even so, he didn't deserve that from Jane. Dante didn't deserve it either, but at least he was conscious and able to defend himself. Santino didn't have that opportunity and didn't deserve such contempt.

"I'll go tell Aro Santino's dead. You go and get rid of him." Jane left the room and ignored Dante as she passed him. Demetri followed Dante's scent and took Dante away, all without Alec even knowing it. He wasn't listening to anything around him.

After staring at Santino a good fifteen minutes in complete silence, Alec finally picked up Santino and took him out of the room and was walking down the stairs. But then he had an idea. It was bad enough that his gift had killed his own son. He at least deserved a decent funeral. Alec turned around and ran to the top of the castle and jumped from the tower. The sun was going down, so the light wasn't making his skin shine anymore. When he was in the streets, he wrapped Santino in his cape and ran as fast as he could to the cemetery near the castle in the Piazzale Donatello.

Alec waited until nightfall for when the cemetery would be closed to the public before he started. He went to one of the little stone shops across from the cemetery to find a good headstone for Santino. He rested Santino in a little spot and started working on a little head stone for him. He started with a simple headstone, but after working on it for a few minutes, it simply wasn't enough. He threw that away and started a new one. Alec instead made a small child angel. He made the angel have Santino's exact features down to the last little tooth in what would have been his smile. When Alec was done, the little child angel looked exactly like Santino, simply with angel wings and a little tunic. Alec felt an odd burn in his eyes as he worked.

When the angel child was perfect, Alec got started on writing Santino's name into the slab below the child. Alec didn't know much about his human life, but he knew the name of the Shire he lived in when he was human. He remembered it was called Byrinn. He remembered that his name had been Alec Dwight Byrinn and Jane had been Jane Fiona Byrinn. So on Santino's gravestone, Alec put the full name he'd chosen for him when he'd first seen him. _Santino Edmund Byrinn, loving son graced by the glory of God, February 21-July 28, 2009_. When he was finally done, he took the stone and Santino back to the graveyard and looked for a good spot. He found the perfect spot near the back of the graveyard on a little hilltop. He buried a hole six feet into the ground in mere minutes and ran to another shop nearby that had coffins. He picked the finest child's coffin he could find made of a hard material that claimed to guarantee the coffin will last at least five hundred years. Alec put Santino in the casket and kept it open for a few hours into the night just looking at him, still feeling a burning feeling in his eyes. When it was one in the morning, Alec decided to talk to him. He knew he would never be able to ever again.

"Santino." Alec stayed quiet a moment as if hoping for a response. When he spoke, his voice was shaky to his surprise. "I'm not really sure what to say………I've only had you for a few short months….and I lost you long before I had you." As Alec spoke, he felt like something was turning solid in his throat and his eyes kept burning. "I'm sorry, Santino….I've failed you.

"All I wanted was to save you. But nothing I ever did helped you…..I wanted…so much…to save you. But no matter what I did, it never worked. And not once….did I ever tell you how much I care about you,……how much I love you." Alec kept feeling pain. It was to the point where it hurt to speak. But Alec kept talking, no matter how much it hurt. "I'm so sorry. I know that doesn't make up for it. It's my fault this happened to you…..all my fault……..The one and only son I never thought I'd have……..and I lost him because of my own gift……I'm sorry to have done this to you.

"There's no point….in me beginning your forgiveness, my son……I don't deserve it…..I don't deserve to be forgiven. Not for what I've done……" Alec brought his hand to Santino's face and brushed his cheek. Alec suddenly noticed he was shaking. He ignored it and kept talking. "I never got to know you….learn who you are……..I only hope that…wherever you are now..that it's more peaceful and that you're happy, my son…..I want you to be happy…that's all I ever wanted for you, even if I couldn't be the one to give it to you…….."

Alec looked at Santino in silence for another few minutes before he kissed Santino's little cheek and forehead. Then he rested his forehead against his and stayed there a moment. Then he grabbed Santino into his arms and held him tight against his chest in a loving hug. He started rocking back and forth trying to comfort himself. He held Santino for a good hour, not wanting to let him go. Alec never thought he would want Santino or love him. Now he did, and giving him up to death was the hardest thing he ever had to do. Finally, Alec knew he had to let him go. Alec put Santino back in his coffin and lowered him into the hole he'd made for him. But before shutting the coffin for good and burring him, Alec said one last thing to his son that he wished he never had to say.

"Goodbye, Santino……I love you, son…..and I always will……." Alec felt something strange then. It was wet and warm and he felt it come from his eye. It took him a minute to realize it was a tear. He felt the tear in awe and looked at it, unbelieving that it was really there. Vampires couldn't cry. They simply were physically unable. And yet there it was, a single tear coming from his eye. Then Alec looked at Santino again. And for the first time since he first saw Santino's sweet little face, he smiled. "You see that, son?...........You gave me back my humanity……."

Alec looked at Santino a few more minutes, then finally closed the coffin and started filling in the hole. When it was completely filled, he put the little angel child at the head of his grave and ran to get flowers and came back with the most beautiful yellow roses he could find. He placed them atop the grave and stood there looking at it a little longer. Then Alec said a little prayer for Santino, wanting to believe with all his heart that his son really was in a better place. Before going back to the castle, Alec kissed the head of the little angel child and said his last parting words with a deep pain in his heart.

"Goodbye, Santino…..my son." With that, Alec forced himself away from the graveyard and went back to the castle. He forced his composure to return while he ignored everyone who asked him why he'd taken so long. He didn't want to be around anyone. There was only so long he could hold his composure before he would crack again. He told Jane to leave him alone, not too kindly, and went to the top tower. When he was there and was sure that no one was around, he held his head in his hands and cried. There were no tears. How that last tear had come he would never know. But he cried. He cried the rest of the night and all the next day. He'd never felt so useless in his life or so helpless. He always used to think his gift was something that made him special and more powerful than any of the Volturi guard, even Jane. But at that moment and every day after that, he thought of his gift as no more than a monstrous curse that took his only son, from him. The only son he would ever have.


	3. Amadora

Amadora

Aside from Dante's relentless nosiness, Aro was quite pleased with him. The boy was able to elude Demetri, the best tracker in the world, and everyone else. He was a smart boy too. He was able to figure out how things worked and what they were for all on his own. It did bother Aro that most of the things he'd figured out how to use were his old torture devices he had locked downstairs. Even now, he had no idea how that boy was able to pick every lock he'd ever put on that damn door. When he read Dante's thoughts, even he didn't know. It was something he just did. It was one of those few gifts that amused him, but annoyed the living daylights out of him all at the same time. Demetri was supposed to keep a close eye on him, but Dante was able to sneak away whenever he got bored. He was never out of Demetri's sight for long, but it was long enough that Demetri, unknown to even Heidi or Felix, would have a mini panic attack every time.

The days after Santino's death, Alec still wasn't back to his old self. He was talking to Jane again, but he wasn't nearly as talkative as he used to be. Now, she seemed to lose Alec's attention very easily and he would make little visits somewhere once a week that Jane didn't know about. Jane tried following him one night, but he figured out really fast that she was there and went straight back to the castle. When Jane asked Demetri where he was going, Demetri simply said that it wasn't her business and if Alec wasn't telling her, he shouldn't be telling her either. What Alec was doing was something personal and painful for him. Demetri didn't want to add Jane into it and make his weekly trips to the cemetery more painful for him. The man deserved alone time with his son.

Dante never paid much attention to Alec. He still didn't like him for what happened to Santino and how unaffected he seemed to be by it. Alec never attempted to talk to Dante either, so there was little to no communication between the two. It also didn't help that Demetri and Alec never talk to each other either. And because Dante was always sneaking around the castle, Aro wondered if Chelsea making Dante feel devoted to him or Demetri would help the situation. Chelsea tried it for a week, but it didn't really do much. Dante already felt a tight bond with Demetri as it was. What Chelsea couldn't change was what Dante thought his father's opinion of him was.

Even now, Dante always felt like he was a burden to Demetri. Demetri rarely smiled except when he was talking to Heidi. Dante didn't have to be a genius to figure out why that might be. But in actuality, Demetri was smiling at Dante all the time. But only when he did things right. The thing was Dante was usually engrossed in whatever he was doing because Demetri wasn't telling him he wasn't supposed to be doing it, so he never saw him smile. Felix was a little bothered by Dante at first seeing as Demetri always had him close by. But after a while, he became used to him. Dante liked all the movies Felix and Demetri liked and he stayed quiet through the whole movie, so Felix didn't have a problem with Dante for long.

Other than the occasional movie with Demetri and Felix, Demetri was spending most of their time teaching him everything he knew. First he taught Dante how to read and write. That didn't take long. After two days, Dante was able to read something as complicated as Animal Farm and understand it and its symbolism. Then he started teaching Dante other languages. Aro asked him to start with English, but Demetri snuck Russian into that too. Demetri was pleased to see that Dante took to Russian a lot faster than he did with English. He learned both, he was simply better at the other. They were even talking to each other in Russian whenever it was just the two of them talking. Otherwise, they spoke Italian. Aro had Dante learning just about every language he could. All the Volturi guards spoke a large quantity of languages because Aro considered it a necessity and simply because sometimes there was nothing better to do.

Dante always liked those learning sessions he had with Demetri. It was a time when they really talked to each other. Otherwise, they were both quiet around each other. Demetri was already a quiet person to begin with. Dante was quiet because he thought Demetri didn't care about what he said. One day, Demetri was watching Dante read a book in Russian, helping him along with anything he had trouble with. Dante was a fast reader, so it would only take him about three hours to read 1225 pages. Right now he was reading one of the original copies of Война и мир ((_Voyna I mir) War and Peace)_ by Lev Tolstoy. About half way through the book, Dante looked at Demetri. When Demetri looked back, Dante had a curious look on his face.

"What?"

"Were you around when all this happened?" Demetri looked at Dante and held back a chuckle.

"Yeah, I was. We all were. We were in this castle when Napoleon was in power and tried to invade Russia." Dante looked at Demetri a little longer with the same look on his face. "What?"

"How old are you, dad?" Demetri fought a laugh again. It was an innocent question, hence the reason it was so funny.

"Do you want to know exactly or when I was changed?" Dante shrugged.

"Whichever makes you feel younger." Demetri did smirk a little at that before talking again.

"Well, I don't know who changed me. Not many vampires do, honestly. But I was changed sometime around 1200 a.d. As far as when I was born, I don't know. I only know I was twenty seven when I was changed because I overheard someone that I evidently knew say it. I died too young, a twenty seven year old with a whole life taken away, he'd said."

"Do you know who he was?"

"His name was Boris. That I knew. As far as what our relation was or how he knew me, that I don't know. I was more concerned about why there were so many ringing sounds in my head."

"You mean from tenors?" Demetri nodded.

"Yeah. I didn't figure out that's what it was until I killed a human for the first time and their tenor was suddenly gone."

"How did you end up here?" Demetri looked at Dante a moment and sighed.

"That's a long story actually." Dante shrugged.

"We have time." Demetri was quiet a moment before talking again.

"I guess we do, don't we. Well, like I said, I was changed around 1200 or so. Dates weren't well kept back then, so I don't know the exact date. But I was a nomad for a few short years before I encountered a vampire named Natasha and her mate Ivan. I stayed with them for several years and we all got along fine and lived peacefully. But those two always wished they could have children. So they created what we call an Immortal Child, or a child under the age of ten changed into a vampire. The one they had was stuck at five years old and her name was Tatijana. I never thought much of her other than she was an adorable little girl and had a cute smile. But she would have really bad temper tantrums at times, but they were always only temporary. But Aro found out about Tatijana and had them all killed. But when Aro read my mind, he said I was repentant and that I shouldn't die that day. He asked me to join his coven and I was so honored that I agreed without a second thought. Aro already had Felix, Heidi, Renata, Afton, and Chelsea when I came along. I'm one of the more recent additions to the coven. Alec and Jane are the most recent though."

"How recent?"

"About 1786 is when we got them. Aro saw them when they were human and thought nothing of them at first. But then Eleazar saw them and told him they had really good potential and would benefit the Volturi. So Aro changed them after destroying the shier they lived in and brought them to Italy. Jane and Alec's home town is now known as Newcastle-Upon-Tyne." Dante gave Demetri a very weird look and Demetri sighed. "I know, it's a weird name, but that's really the name of the town today. Evidently, the Byrinn Shier wasn't British enough." Dante laughed a little before speaking again.

"Who's Eleazar?"

"Eleazar's a vampire that used to be a part of the coven. He met another vampire named Carmen who's now his mate. They're with the Denali Coven now."

"When did he leave?"

"They met in 1960 and left 1963. They didn't roam into America until 1986, though. Then, in 1990, they joined the Denali Coven."

"Why did they leave?" Demetri shrugged.

"They wanted something different. They didn't like hunting humans and didn't like the way we rounded up humans and hunted them, so they left."

"Aro was okay with that?" Demetri held back a smile at Dante's tone and nodded his head.

"He was reluctant and was sad to see him go, but yeah, he let him go."

"That doesn't sound like Aro." Demetri smiled a little.

"To you maybe. But unlike you, Eleazar didn't get into Aro's things and call them old farts." Dante laughed when Demetri said that.

"But they are old farts. And mean ones too. At least Marcus is a quiet old fart. And he doesn't seem to care." Demetri was fighting a laugh as hard as he could. There would be hell to pay from Caius if he was listening and he heard Demetri laugh.

"Dante, you could set Marcus on fire and he wouldn't care. And you shouldn't say things like that. That's how you get in trouble with people." Dante shrugged after looking at Demetri for a moment, then went back to reading his book.

When Dante was done with the book, Demetri put it away in one of the high shelves of the library and took him to the lobby where Felix was starting to watch Adams Family Values. It quickly became one of Dante's favorite movies. His most favorite was Pan's Labyrinth, but that didn't surprise Demetri at all. Dante liked the lullaby and the movie's story was nostalgic for him. He even figured out how to play the song on the violin all by himself when he snuck into the basement and found Aro's collection of instruments that he rarely ever played anymore. Though reluctant, Aro let Dante keep the violin for his own. Dante only knew how to play the one song, but it was enough for him.

Everything was going well and Aro was pleased with Dante and his power. But with this success, Aro wanted more. If he had so much success with Demetri, imagine the success he would have with his other guards. He spent some time thinking about which guard he should use next. They were all powerful and would surely produce a good result.

It was mid November. Italy was cooler than normal, but still above sixty degrees outside. Aro and all the others had just finished off the last of the humans that Heidi had brought in for food. Sulpicia went straight to Aro when she was done and hugged him around his waist wanting to be the center of his attention. Everyone went about their business and helped get rid of the bodies, throwing them in the furnace that was downstairs. When all the dead bodies were disposed of, Afton and Chelsea snuck away from the group and went to the top tower and looked out into the night sky together. With everyone having the good hearing that they had, it was impossible to really be alone. But being as far away as they were allowed was nice too. When they were alone at the top tower, Afton took a hold of Chelsea's hand and kissed it.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" Chelsea nodded and leaned her head against Afton's shoulder.

"It is." Then Chelsea looked up at Afton with a smile and kissed his chin. Afton smiled and looked at her. "You know what would make this better?" Afton grinned and shook his head.

"I don't know, Chelsea. What?" Chelsea smirked and made her smile seductive.

"I think you know." They both laughed together and they kissed once their laughter was under control.

Chelsea wrapped her arms around Afton's neck and he lifted her into his arms by the waist, holding her tightly. When they were close together, their kiss went on. It was long lasting and passionate like always. After a moment, Afton lifted Chelsea up so that she was sitting on the castle's edge holding him close to her. Chelsea's nails started digging into Afton's back, but he didn't mind at all. Afton started kissing Chelsea's jaw after kissing for several minutes, then went to her ear, where he swirled his tongue and sucked on the lobe of her ear. Then his kisses traveled down her neck where he would spend several minutes in one spot before moving on. All the while, Chelsea's hands were threading through Afton's hair and sighing lightly in contentment and pleasure. Afton's hands moved all over her body, making strategic stops in all her most sensitive spots. Chelsea took her hands from Afton's hair and started moving her hands down his chest and progressively going lower, but they started hearing footsteps coming their way. They ignored it until those footsteps stopped and Demetri was right behind them.

"Aro wants us in the main room." Afton lifted his lips from Chelsea and let her vent.

"What the hell's wrong now?" Demetri shrugged.

"Heidi brought some people to the castle. I assume you guys would like some blood."

Chelsea and Afton stood still for a moment before letting go of each other and fixing their clothes before following Demetri to the main room of the castle. When they got down there, there were several tourists gathered. They were all baffled and confused, not sure what was going on. Once everybody was in, Demetri locked the doors and faced the people gathered. Dante stayed close to Demetri the whole time, waiting for him to start as a signal that he could too. Everyone was prepared to attack one human in the room and let the ones they didn't get to run around in panic. But Aro did something he'd never done before. He looked at Alec and asked him to use his power on every human in the room. Alec was confused about his intentions, but did so without a word. When everyone was standing there with a blank look on their face, the guards looked at Aro, wondering what he was up to. Aro looked straight at Afton and had an expectant smile on his face. Chelsea saw that look and immediately didn't like it. She had a feeling that she knew what he was going to ask of him, and she didn't like it at all.

"Afton, I have a favor to ask of you." Afton stood to attention and waited for his orders. "Before we indulge, I'd like for you to pick one of these women here and see what we get if she gives you a child." Afton was a little wide eyed. Afton was about to say something, but Aro spoke first. "I know, I know. You don't want to do something like that and upset Chelsea." Afton was quiet a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah. I would rather not do something like that to her." Chelsea smiled a little at Afton and hugged his arm to silently say she loved him. Aro smiled a little, but remained all business.

"I understand, Afton. But you have a powerful gift. I can only imagine the gift a child of yours would have. And who knows? We might end up with something interesting because of the mother." Marcus intervened by touching Aro's hand.

_Why don't you have a child then? You might get something interesting too. And I'm sure Sulpicia wouldn't mind._ Marcus thought that last part with a great deal of sarcasm. Aro looked at Marcus with a glare.

"Shut up, Marcus." Marcus shrugged defensively and didn't let Aro hear anything else from him. No one heard Marcus' little comment and waited for Aro to say anything else. Aro looked back at Afton and put back a business like smile on his face. "Please, Afton. Choose one so we can remove her from here and get her upstairs and start drinking."

Afton didn't start looking at any women in the crowd for several seconds. He hated doing something like this, especially in front of Chelsea. But eventually, he did start looking around at the women that were there, trying to pick which girl would be better. Most of the women in the group were older, in their fifties at least. But some of them were in their early twenties to their early thirties. None of them really caught his eye to say the least. Chelsea was the most beautiful woman to him and always has been. Choosing another beautiful woman was a fleeting task for him.

"How about her?" Dante said and pointed to a blonde woman that was in the group. Afton looked around at the woman that Dante was talking about and tried to think whether he thought she was a pretty woman or not.

She had blonde hair that was streaked with bright highlights and lowlights. And her eyes, though stunned, were a bright blue that reminded him of the sea near Volterra. Her skin was a peach complexion and she had red on her cheeks that looked like sunburn. She was clearly not from Italy. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but she would serve the purpose that Aro wanted Afton to use her for.

"I guess I'll use her then." Aro smiled and looked at Dante.

"Excellent. Dante, take her to one of the rooms upstairs so we can get started." Dante's face became a little sad.

"You're starting without me?" Caius didn't say anything, but he did give Dante a weird look. Like he was asking why they would wait for him anyway. Aro looked at Demetri, who sighed to himself and walked up to Dante and patted his head.

"Don't worry. I'll save one for you." Dante turned around to look at Demetri. He looked skeptical, but he complied.

"If you promise." Dante grabbed the woman's hand, but he only ended up dragging her. Dante tried to pull her with him, but Demetri took her and ran her upstairs and was back within a second. Demetri looked at Aro with a serious face.

"Sorry, it's faster if I do it." Aro shrugged.

"Whatever works." Then Alec looked at Alec, who then lifted his power and brought everyone back to consciousness.

Once the people were all aware, the guards attacked one at a time and drank their fill. Dante grabbed onto someone that had been standing next to the person Demetri attacked and bit into their neck after jumping onto their back. Dante finished that person shortly after Demetri finished off his second victim. Then he drank a little bit of a second person and Demetri finished that off for him. Once all the gathered victims were dead, there was a collective sigh of contentment to be rid of the burn in their throats. But the relief felt by all was short lived. Once Aro was back at his throne with Sulpicia sitting on the arm of his chair, he looked at Afton and waved his hand.

"Well, get to it, Afton. The sooner it's over, the better." Aro then looked at Alec. "Just to make things easier, keep using your power on her until Afton's done. The last thing I want is to hear screaming. I've had enough screaming for one day."

Alec nodded his head and tried concentrating his power in the spot that Demetri told Alec she was in. When he had her under his power, Aro waved his hand at Afton again, letting him know he could go. Reluctantly, Afton bowed his head to Aro and kissed Chelsea before leaving the main room and going up the stairs to where the woman was. When he got there, her face looked blank. A tell tale sign that Alec was using his power. Afton hated doing this. Orders or not, the fact of the matter was he was hurting Chelsea. He'd never wanted anyone other than her and had never been with anyone other than her since the day he met her and the short months after their first meeting when they fell in love. Even the thought of sleeping with another woman seemed weird and unappealing to him.

It was several minutes that passed. He finally took a deep breath, removed his clothes, and thought about Chelsea as hard as he could, hoping that it would make it seem less painful. If anything, it made him feel even more guilty, but it was his only hope of getting anywhere with the woman unconscious on the bed. Chelsea went to the tower of the castle to be alone and to pace. She was understandably uneasy and unhappy with the situation. What Aro told Afton to do was already inappropriate and preposterous as it was. But telling Afton to have a child with another woman made her feel things she'd never felt before. She'd never had a reason to feel jealous before. Not with Afton. He was loyal and loving and made her feel like she really was the most beautiful woman in the world. And worst of all, it made her feel inadequate. She wasn't able to give Afton the child that Aro so desperately wanted, so he was making Afton sleep with some whore off the street. It was like Aro was saying she wasn't good enough, and she didn't like it in the least.

Chelsea stayed in the top tower waiting for Afton. It was the most unsettled she'd ever been in her whole life. Alec made sure the girl was sedated while Jane talked to him about whatever she wanted to talk about. He still wasn't back to normal after Santino's death. He wasn't crying anymore, but he still didn't want to talk to anyone either. Not even Jane. Alec let down his power the moment he say Afton coming down the hall. Aro asked him if it was done, and he nodded his head. Then he went straight to the tower of the castle where he knew Chelsea would be. As he suspected she would be, she was staring out into the scenery with an angry look on her face. She wasn't looking at him, but she undoubtedly knew he was there. Afton stayed at the top of the stairs waiting for her to react in some manner. Five minutes passed, and she still wasn't saying anything. So Afton went to her, not bothering taking a deep breath. It wouldn't help him to relax anyway. When he was right behind her, she finally turned around to face him, and they were silent again for a few minutes. But then Chelsea finally spoke, and it was a harsh tone filled with anger and jealousy.

"Is it done?" Afton nodded his head.

"Yes, it is. There weren't any contraceptives in her purse, so I'm hoping that it will take." Chelsea only nodded her head at him and looked down at the floor. Afton put his hand on her cheek and made her look at him. When she was, her face looked sad and angry all at once. "You know I didn't want to do this."

"That's not the point." Afton closed the distance between them completely so that both his hands were on her face and he had her pushed against the stone wall and their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"I'm sorry to have done that to you. But please don't be mad at me. I promise, it'll never happen again. Never." Chelsea looked like she wasn't sure that was true.

"What if she isn't pregnant?" Afton shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. Never again. If she didn't get pregnant, one of the other guards can try, but not me. I swear I'll never do that to you again."

Chelsea kissed Afton then. She could smell the scent of the other girl , but she couldn't taste her. That was reassuring to her at least. Afton let go of her face and wrapped his arms around her waist to lift her into his arms and bring her closer to him. He wanted to wipe away all traces of what had just happened. He would never forget, but he at least wanted to pretend that it had never happened. Chelsea wanted the same. She hoped with all her might that the girl was now pregnant and that Afton would never have to be with her again. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but hope that the pregnancy was a failure. She'd never had to share Afton with anyone before, and she had no intentions of sharing him now. Not even with his own child. Especially when Afton never wanted that child to begin with.

Afton never went back again. Sulpicia and Athenadora took care of her from then on. Afton was relieved to find out that she was, in fact, pregnant and that he wouldn't have to sleep with her again. Chelsea was torn on how she felt. But she ignored it and was sure to keep Afton at her side at all times. When the girl was out of her trance, she was mortified and terrified and had no idea what was going on or where she was. When Athenadora and Sulpicia came to her and told her she was pregnant, she felt like she would have a heart attack. It was even worse when she took a pregnancy test and it was official. She wasn't sleeping with anyone at home in Missouri or here in Italy. She wasn't even straight. How she could be pregnant was unfathomable to her. She was even more confused when they told her the father's name was Afton. She'd never met anyone by that name or knew anyone by that name. And when the pregnancy progressed much faster than any normal pregnancy, she really did lose her mind.

No matter what happened, Afton never went back. Even if he wanted to, Chelsea never let him. All the other guards went about their business the same way they had done both times before. Aside from Sulpicia and Athenadora always being in the room with the human, nothing really happened that was out of the ordinary. Afton and Chelsea were even more inseparable and were spending most of their time alone together wherever they could be alone. Alec and Jane were usually in the library reading together and talking about the book and anything they thought was silly or wrong with it. Alec wasn't nearly as talkative with Jane as he used to be, but he would say his piece every now and then.

Corin usually spent most of his time talking to Afton. But seeing as Chelsea had him locked away somewhere, he spent his time talking to Renata. They weren't really close friends, but it was better than sitting in the lobby talking to the new receptionist or being in the library reading where Alec and Jane were usually babbling on about a book. Felix, Demetri, Dante, and Heidi were usually in the lobby watching something and the plasma TV that was there was far out of sight of visitors and well out of the way of the receptionist. It was technically its own room, but it was simply referred to as the lobby. They weren't the ones that made noise or were annoying as much as the receptionist. She was picked to replace Gianna, but it was pretty last minute. Aro didn't look much at her resume or at her qualifications any more than to learn her name was Sofia Fragiano. She was simply the first one to come in and ask for a job and he said she could start the next day. Sadly enough, the girl was dumber than mud.

Dante didn't like Sofia either. He attempted talking to her once, but every time he used a big word, like insufficient, illegible or bequeath, he would lose her. He didn't like being a dictionary for someone that should know words like that. Demetri had always spoken to Dante like he was an adult, so trying to talk to Sofia at any less than an adult level was something he simply hated doing and didn't feel was worth attempting. No one else really wanted to attempt it either. For Dante, trying to talk to Sofia was like a chore. He'd attempted asking Demetri to see if Aro might fire Sofia and find another girl more qualified.

"Dante, I'm not in a position to ask Aro to fire Sofia. It's not like we need someone with a masters in business or anything else to do what her job is. As far as secretary and receptionist jobs go, her job is pretty damn easy. She's not doing anymore than Gianna did when she worked her."

"You mean painting her nails, talking to friends during work, and making coffee when no one drinks it?" Demetri nodded his head.

"Yeah, that." Felix spoke next after patting Dante's head once.

"I agree with Dante. We need a different girl."

"You only say that because you think she has a weird nose." Felix shrugged at Demetri's remark.

"It's not just that." Heidi interrupted whatever Felix was about to say.

"It doesn't matter what she does during the day. We haven't had a receptionist that was ignorant in years. The last ignorant receptionist we had was in 1958. After that, all the others figured it out because of all those damn drugs that some of them seemed to be on and all those damn B-rated movies that started up in the seventies and eighties and we've had to kill every last one of them. As it is, it's a miracle no one's questioned it for these past sixty years. It might be nice not to have to kill this one. You know, fire someone for once." Dante gave Heidi a small smile.

"Why wait?" Heidi gave Dante a weird smile, shrugged, then looked back at the TV. They were all watching Adams Family Values together. It wasn't often they got to see the movie on any Italian Channel and it be in English. It was usually in Italian, and no one liked it that way. Nothing every translated right and the jokes were never as funny.

"Just don't talk to her Dante. Let her sit around and paint her nails. You don't bother her, she won't bother you, understand?" Dante nodded at Demetri's remark.

"Alright." They watched the rest of the movie together in silence. When the movie was done, Felix stayed in the lobby to watch a different movie while Demetri took Dante to the library to read something. Heidi went with them to the library and was there to help Dante with his German.

Later that night, Demetri sent Dante to bed for the night. Dante stayed in one of the bedrooms near the library and far away from the bedroom in one of the towers that kept the human woman. There was a window in the room that was covered by stained glass that showed the image of the woods and the night sky. Dante tucked himself in and Demetri wished him goodnight and was about to leave.

"Dad." Demetri turned to look at Dante before leaving the room.

"Yeah?" Dante looked nervous to talk. Demetri walked back over to his bed to be closer. "What's wrong, Dante?" Dante shook his head and sat up in his bed.

"I was wondering…" Demetri waited a moment for Dante to speak. But he didn't say anything.

"Wondering what?" Dante looked up at Demetri still feeling nervous. He was relieved that Demetri didn't look angry. But he wasn't showing any real expression. That made him feel even worse. Finally, he spoke, and did so as calmly as he could.

"I remember there being a little story that someone told me. I can't remember the whole story, though. It was about a boy that went through a cave and found a kingdom." Demetri nodded his head, showing that he knew what Dante was talking about it.

"What about it?" Demetri still didn't seem to be annoyed, but Dante wasn't sure.

"I was wondering if you knew it. Maybe you could tell it to me." Demetri tried to keep his same expression. He wasn't good at telling stories. He never had been. It seemed odd for Dante to want to hear a bedtime story at all. Demetri always treated him like an adult, so Dante always acted like one.

"I'm not very good at telling stories." Dante was about to push, but he decided not to bother.

"Oh. It's okay." Dante laid back in bed and turned to face the wall with his back to Demetri and tried to fall asleep. Demetri was about to say something, but he didn't.

Demetri left Dante's room that night feeling awful. He went down to the library and sat in front of the fireplace, which always had a fire going, and looked at it blankly. Jane and Alec were there, but they ignored him and did their own thing. They eventually left to go do something else like play cards. Demetri stayed in the library alone for a few hours before Heidi came into the library and saw Demetri sitting staring at the fire with a grimace. Heidi took a seat on the couch next to Demetri trying to smile at him hoping it would make him feel better when he looked at her. He looked at her for only a moment, but then looked back at the fire with the same look on his face.

"What's the matter?" Demetri looked at Heidi again and his expression softened a little.

"It's stupid. Don't worry about it." Heidi shook her head and scooted closer to Demetri.

"It's not stupid to me. What's wrong? I might be able to help you if you tell me." Demetri and Heidi looked at each other for a minute, both being silent. Eventually, Demetri sighed to himself, looked at the fire again, and spoke in a quiet voice.

"Dante asked if I'd tell him a story before bed." Heidi gave Demetri a confused look.

"A bedtime story? Dante?" Demetri nodded.

"I thought it was weird too. He's always so mature for his age, so him asking for a bedtime story took me by surprise." Heidi shrugged.

"Alright. Why are you upset then?" Demetri took another deep breath before talking again.

"I told him I wasn't good at telling stories. Then he told me not to worry about it and went to bed." Heidi rested her hand on Demetri's shoulder trying to be comforting.

"I see. You feel bad for not telling him a bedtime story?" Demetri nodded.

"It's more that I didn't at least try and now I feel like a worse father than I usually do." Heidi scooted the last few inches on the couch until she was sitting right next to Demetri and she put both her hands on Demetri's shoulders in a comforting way.

"No. You're not a bad father, Demetri. You're a wonderful father." Demetri shook his head.

"No I'm not. I don't even know how to act around him. He probably thinks I hate him. I think he hates me too." Heidi shook her head again.

"He most certainly does not, Demetri. Dante adores you. He looks up to you and wants nothing more than to make you proud of him." Demetri laughed without humor and looked at Heidi with skepticism.

"How would you know that?" Heidi didn't have an answer for that. She saw the way Dante acted around Demetri, but that alone wouldn't convince him that she was right. So instead, she stayed quiet and Demetri looked back at the fire. But as moments passed, Heidi got an idea and smiled at Demetri. When he was looking at her, his expression didn't change. "What?" Heidi kept smiling, hoping her advice would do some good.

"Maybe there's something you could do to make up for it. Do something for him that would say that you're sorry about what was said."

"Like what?" Heidi shrugged.

"You'll think of something. Maybe think of a story and make it into a little book for him or something." Demetri did smile then. It was a great idea. Demetri knew exactly what story Dante had been talking about. And he could always change the story around a little and make it a picture book. "Are you smiling because you have an idea?" Demetri nodded.

"Thanks Heidi. I know what I'll do."

They both stood up and Demetri gave Heidi a quick hug before Demetri started looking around the library for blank paper. Heidi stayed in the library and watched Demetri as he worked. He gathered up as much paper as he could and started writing and drawing pictures as fast as he could while still making it good. He changed the story only a little. Instead of choosing between the three tests of logic and the fight against the monster, he made it so that all were required, explaining that a true king needed to be wise, giving, selfless, and a good defender. When it was done, he bound the book as best he could and used his best calligraphy to write_**, **__**Уτопическая Пещера**_ ((Utopichyaskaya Peschera) Utopian Cave)). Demetri wrote the story in Russian to make it more personal. Aside from Demetri and Dante, the only other person in the coven that spoke Russian was Aro. No one else ever really felt the point of learning it. Especially when Demetri joined the coven. So no one else would ever be able to read the story except Dante.

"What do you think?" Demetri asked Heidi when he was done. He handed it to Heidi and she looked through the book looking at the pictures, not being able to read Russian. The pictures were beautiful and the monster at the end was frightening.

"What's it about?"

"It about a boy named Dante. He follows a trail of garlic to a large cave. He goes in, gets trapped, then follows another trail in the cave guided by lit candles. A fairy named Ofelia shows him the way through the cave where he has to prove that he's wise, giving, and selfless before fighting a monster to prove he's strong. With each test that he passes, he gets a useful item to use against the monster. And once the monster is dead, he gets into his kingdom and becomes king of Utopia." Heidi giggled and looked at all the pictures.

"It sounds like a wonderful children's book. These pictures are beautiful, even in black and white. And your handwriting is stunning as always." Demetri smiled a little.

"It's actually the story his mother used to tell him while she was pregnant with him. I changed it a little, but it's the same basic story." Heidi looked up at Demetri with a smile still on her face. Then she stood up from the couch and handed the book back to him.

"It's perfect, Demetri. I think he'll love it." Demetri smiled nervously.

"I hope so." Heidi gave Demetri one last hug before gently taping his nose with her forefinger.

"I know so." Then she left the room to go somewhere else. Demetri took a deep breath that would never help him and walked out of the library and up the stairs to Dante's room. Dante was already fast asleep, so Demetri just placed the book at the foot of his bed and waited for Dante to wake up the next morning and find it.

For the rest of the night, Demetri waited in the Library and read a book, waiting for Dante to come downstairs. Dante woke up when the sun shined through the window, making the stained glass shine its picture into the room. Dante stayed in bed for a few minutes before opening his eyes. It felt like it was too early to wake up. But when he did wake up, he sat up in his bed and looked forward and saw something that wasn't there the night before. It was a book that had Utopian Cave written across it in perfect Russian handwriting. Dante picked up the book and was amazed by the pictures as he looked through it. It took Dante no time to read the book, but he enjoyed the story none the less. And the fact that the main character's name was Dante made it all the more personal. Dante wasn't sure why Demetri would go through all that trouble, but he wasn't going to complain about it. It reminded him so much of the story he remembered.

Once Dante was finished reading the book, he placed it back at the end of his bed and changed his clothes before going downstairs to the library where Demetri was waiting for him. When Demetri heard Dante coming, he turned around to face him. When they made eye contact, neither of them looked all that enthusiastic. Dante was so stunned by the act and he didn't know what Demetri was thinking. Demetri was so nervous that Dante wouldn't like it that he'd spent most of the night telling himself that he wouldn't. Both simply stared at each other with blank faces before Dante made an attempt at a smile.

"Did you make that book?" Demetri nodded his head.

"Yeah. I know I'm not good at telling stories. But you mother was. So I took one of the stories she said you liked the most and put it into writing." Dante smiled marginally wider.

"Really?" Demetri nodded. Dante walked the rest of the way to Demetri and took a seat on the couch that he was on. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Dante took a deep breath before asking, wanting to calm himself down.

"What was she like? My mom, I mean." Demetri was still for a moment. This was a question he'd been dreading. He never wanted to tell Dante about his mother because he knew nothing about her to tell him. Finally, Demetri settled for telling Dante what he did know.

"She was imaginative. And she really liked Pan's Labyrinth." Dante really smiled when he heard that.

"Really?" Demetri nodded and finally smiled a little.

"Yeah. She used to hum the song to you all the time. And she was stubborn and strong willed too. You inherited those little traits from her. And you have her eyes and her smile."

"What was her name?" Demetri froze again. When he answered, he forced his voice to be calm and pretend he didn't feel guilty.

"I don't know, actually." Dante lost his smile after that. He looked down and towards the fire with a sad look on his face.

"Oh." Neither of them said anything more after that. Demetri wanted to say something, but knew that nothing he said would repair the damage he'd just done. When Dante got up and went to his room, didn't stop him.

There wasn't much reason to. When Dante got to his room, he closed the door and went straight to his bed where the book was. He looked at it and read it over and over again. He tried as hard as he could to picture his mother in his head. He didn't remember his mother. He only remembered seeing Demetri and his stunned face. Demetri was the first person he saw when he opened his eyes. And at the time, it felt like he was the only person worth caring about. He'd known in that moment Demetri was his father and he loved him in that moment. He'd never thought about his mother before. He couldn't even remember the sound of her voice. He hadn't heard her when she gave birth to him. He almost started to think he didn't have a mother. But the science Demetri taught Dante proved that theory to be silly.

And that's when he started wondering about his mother. He never dared bring it up with Demetri before because he wasn't sure how he'd react to it. So he never asked. And now that he had, he wished it'd never come up. He was not only a burden on his father, but the reason his mother was dead. He'd figured both out a long time ago. But it seemed to make it worse when he didn't even know his mother's name. He couldn't imagine the pain his mother went through because of him. It made him feel sick inside to think about it. After rereading the book for the fifth time, he closed it, placed it at the end of the bed, and let himself cry. He was sure to stay as quiet as possible, but he cried.

Demetri decided a few minutes later that he wanted to see if Dante was okay. But he heard Dante's tears, and it made him feel sick. He really was a horrible father. Even when he tried to make Dante something special, he ruined it by bringing up his mother. Demetri left Dante to mourn and walked down the stairs back to the library. He took a book off the bookshelf trying to clear his head of everything, knowing that was physically impossible for him. Later, Heidi came in and was surprised Dante wasn't there. She walked to the chair Demetri was sitting on and sat on the arm of the chair. Demetri didn't look at her. But even from a side angle, she could tell Demetri was upset.

"Did he like it?" Demetri closed the book and through it in some general direction of the bookshelf.

"Yeah, he did."

"Then why are you still upset?" Demetri sighed.

"Because. When he came down to thank me, I apologized for not being good at telling stories, then told him that his mother was good at storytelling. It just went downhill from there." Heidi was silent a moment. She wanted to touch him, but now seemed to be like a bad time.

"I'm sorry, Demetri." Demetri shook his head.

"Don't be. I deserve it." Heidi wanted to tell him he was wrong, but Demetri stood from his seat and left the library to go somewhere else in the castle. Heidi was left in the library alone staring after him feeling like she might have made things worse.

Dante and Demetri didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day after that. Dante wanted to be left alone and Demetri wasn't in the mood to talk at all. Heidi went to talk to Dante, but when she found him, he was asleep with tears staining his face. Without a clue as to what else she could do, she left Dante and Demetri alone to think things over themselves. She wanted to help Demetri, but there was nothing she could think of to make the situation better. Demetri woke Dante up the next morning and was all business as usual. Neither Dante or Demetri wanted to talk about what happened, so it never came up again. Demetri knew that Dante was mad at him about it, but talking about it wouldn't help things.

After a few days, Afton and Chelsea finally left the top tower and rejoined the coven in the castle. No one said a word about what they'd been doing or how long it all lasted. Even after all that, Chelsea was in a bad mood and wasn't at all happy with the woman in the highest most room in the castle and no one wanted to deal with her moodiness. Afton never visited the woman either. He didn't want to be reminded of it. It was bad enough that he would never forget that experience without having to see the woman again. Sulpicia and Athenadora hardly paid any attention to the woman. They would talk amongst themselves and check on her routinely. They only knew of her what she said, that being that she was a college student from Missouri and that she wanted to go home. But the minute she started babbling and panicking, they gave her one good smack across the face and that shut her up for good. She was too scared to talk anymore.

As the days went by, the baby grew and was healthy from what they could tell. The mother hardly paid attention to it. She was shocked by it at first and scared, but she got over it. After a while, she lost her will and just waited for whatever happened to happen and be over with. When she felt the baby kick, she would hum a random tone to the baby, but that was about it. There was something that Sulpicia and Athenadora noticed that was odd. Sometimes, when they would touch the mother's stomach to check on the baby, the mother's belly would suddenly get a little bigger and much harder, then it would go back to normal once they stopped touching her. Aro was thrilled when he heard about that. He took it as a sign that the child would certainly have a powerful gift. Aro ordered them to leave the child alone for the time being, not sure what her power would do to the mother. He didn't want anything to happen to the mother while she was still with child.

It was late in the afternoon. Volterra was cold from the winter, but no less than sixty degrees. Then, on December 8, 2009, Sulpicia came down to the main room and told Aro and all who were there that the baby was coming. She left to go back to the room and Aro told Demetri to find Afton and tell him to go get the baby. Demetri nodded his head and went to where Afton's tenor was loudest. Dante followed closely after him. Demetri found Afton in the library with Chelsea sitting in front of the fire together. They both looked around at Demetri when they heard him coming. They both stood and Afton walked around the couch to get closer to him.

"Get upstairs. The baby's coming." Afton nodded his head and went up the stairs up the tower and didn't stop until he was at the door to the room. Chelsea followed after him and stayed close as Afton waited for Sulpicia and Athenadora to be done.

Like always, Sulpicia and Athenadora didn't bother to let the mother give birth naturally. They cut into her to get the baby and used all their strength to get through the hardened amniotic sack until they saw the baby. But oddly enough, when they reached the baby, a little girl, they couldn't touch her when they reached for her. They could see her as clearly as they usually would, but when Sulpicia reached for her, there was something keeping her from getting to her. They couldn't see it, but it was obvious she was shielding herself. Sulpicia grinned at the power the little girl seemed to have. Athenadora was more interested in getting rid of her so they could finish off the mother.

"Isn't that something? She's a shield."

"That's all good, but my throat is burning. Get rid of the damn baby." Athenadora didn't yell, but her tone was harsh. Sulpicia sighed and grabbed onto the baby, even though there was at least four inches of what looked like empty air between her hands and the baby. When Sulpicia got out to Afton, his eyes widened a little at the sight of what looked like a baby floating in mid air. Then she handed him the baby and she seemed to go higher above his hands.

"Congratulations. It's a girl." Once Afton had the girl in his arms, Sulpicia went back into the room and closed the door behind her so she and Athenadora could finish off the mother. When Chelsea looked at her, she shrugged to herself.

"She looks too much like her mother in my opinion." Chelsea started walking down the stairs. "We better get to the main room and tell Aro."

"Yeah, sure. You go ahead. I'll be there in a minute." Chelsea looked at him oddly. "I want to try and get her to stop what she's doing. Whatever that is exactly." Chelsea shrugged indifferently.

"If you say so. I'll see you down there." Chelsea kissed Afton's cheek before walking down the stairs to the main room.

When she was out of sight, Afton looked at the little girl in his arms and started mumbling to her, hoping she would let down her shield. It worked faster than he thought it would and with the first few words he said, she suddenly plopped gently into his arms from her little shield. When she was comfortable in Afton's arms, she finally opened her eyes and looked up at him with a look of fear and terror. But when she looked at him for a moment, some of that fear faded and she tried her best to snuggle closer to him, pulling the little pink blanket with her so she was completely covered.

Chelsea was wrong. She looked like Afton. She had her mother's eyes and hair and her nose, which looked breathtakingly cute on her. She looked like Afton, but with much softer, more feminine features. She had enough of Afton that one could tell she was his, but she looked enough like her mother that she was an individual. Even with her pale skin, her blonde hair looked perfect on her. It wasn't quite platinum, but it was a bright color. And when she'd opened her eyes, even with fear plaguing them, they sea blue of her eyes won him over.

It was the same way for the little baby. Whenever she'd heard Athenadora's voice, she would get scared and act out of instinct to form a barrier to protect herself. And when they'd forced open her other confinements, she just made that barrier go further out. But when she finally had the courage to open her eyes, the man she saw made her feel safe. And when she heard his voice, she took down her shield and snuggled closer to him wanting his protection. When she was close enough to him, she closed her eyes and pulled her blanket closer to herself trying to hide. Afton brushed the fabric away to touch her cheek, but he felt something solid, but invisible, kept him from touching her. He started mumbling calm words to her again, and whatever had been there was gone.

He was in awe of her skin when he touched it. It was harder than human skin, but had more give to it than vampire skin. Like any baby's skin, her skin was soft like silk and clear of any imperfections. Her hair was short like that of most babies, but it was still soft and perfect and was very obviously stringy straight even at this time in her life. Afton tried to keep his observing short. What he did acknowledge took him less than a second to take in. When he'd looked at his daughter enough, he started walking down the stairs and made his way to the main room where everyone else was waiting. When Afton got to the main room, Aro stood from his chair with a smile on his face, motioning for Afton to come closer.

"How delightful. A baby girl." Afton nodded. "So we know she's a shield. How does her power work?" Afton shrugged.

"I'm not sure." As Afton spoke, Athenadora and Sulpicia walked into the main room and Sulpicia answered for Afton.

"I think she can create solid matter around her as a barrier. The barrier was so hard, even we couldn't break through it." Aro smiled wider and Caius grinned a little too.

"Magnificent. What an asset that will be. No enemy will ever be able to fight us with such a barrier. The only thing that could make it better is if we had a shield like Bella's." For a moment, Renata felt a hint of panic. Aro ignored his final thought and kept smiling at Afton. "So, Afton. What is her name?" Afton went silent for a moment. The thought for her name never crossed his mind.

"I haven't thought of one." Aro looked surprised.

"No? Not even one?" Afton shook his head.

"I never really thought about it." Chelsea smiled a little to herself while Aro kept looking surprised.

"Well that's a shame. We should remedy that, I think." Caius spoke next, and his voice was harsh and condescending.

"She doesn't need a name Aro. She has a powerful gift that we can use. That's all that's important." Aro rolled his eyes subtly.

"That's great, Caius. And how do we address her to use said power?" Caius lost his smile grin and it was replaced with an angry line. "That's what I thought." Then Aro looked at the little girl Afton was holding. He thought about a few names that he knew, trying to think which would be appropriate.

"If we must call her something, let's just call her a number and be done with it." Caius said. Aro ignored him and kept thinking. Afton did the same. He thought of every name he knew, but there weren't many that he liked for his little girl. The thought occurred to him to name her after Chelsea, but that was immediately dismissed. That would lead to more trouble than it was worth. Sulpicia offered a suggestion.

"The mother's identification said her name was Brooke. How about that?" Afton shook his head. Aro nodded in agreement.

"You're right, Afton. Too common. She needs something more unique." Aro and Afton were really the only ones thinking about a name. The others were just watching them. After two minutes, Afton thought of a name that he could live with.

"Amadora." Aro looked back at Afton, then at the baby. He thought about the name with her for a second, then smiled.

"It suits her. Amadora it is." There wasn't much excitement after that. Chelsea simply walked closer to Afton and looked at Amadora again. Amadora looked up at Chelsea and saw a look of resentment and hatred in her eyes. It frightened her and she snuggled closer to Afton. Afton looked at Amadora with a small look of surprise, wondering why she was hiding again.

"She's already growing." Chelsea said this in a flat tone, not showing any real interest in the observation. Afton looked at Amadora and tried not to worry about it, knowing that it was normal.

"It's perfectly normal. Think of it, Afton. By the end of this week, she'll be able to walk and talk." Afton simply nodded his head. Aro shrugged subtly, thinking Afton didn't really care, and went back to his throne. "I leave her in your hands, Afton. And keep her out of trouble." Aro then looked at Dante. "I don't want her snooping around in things she shouldn't." Dante shrugged.

"Get better locks and I wouldn't be able to snoop around."

"I have plenty good locks. You're the one that picks the locks when you've been specifically told not to." Aro rose his voice at Dante, but only a little. Dante was about to say more, but Demetri put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard enough that it hurt a little so Dante wouldn't say anything else. "Keep her out of trouble. Is that clear, Afton?" Afton nodded.

"Yes, sir." Aro then waved his hand, letting everyone know they were free to go about their own business.

Afton left the main room with Chelsea following after him to go to the library. As they walked, Chelsea was oddly silent. Afton looked at her with concern once they were both sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Chelsea looked at Afton and looked to be in an irritable mood. Afton was silent, already having a feeling that he knew what she was upset about. Chelsea was the one to finally talk.

"Amadora, huh?" Afton nodded. "Where did that name come from?"

"I remembered it from a long time ago. No one specifically."

"Ah." They were both quiet again. Amadora was looking at Afton the whole time. After a moment, Chelsea got tired of the silence. She scooted closer to Afton and kissed him and rubbed her nose against his. Afton smiled and kissed her back. "When are you going to get out that crib that Dante had?"

"Why?" Chelsea smiled at Afton seductively and kissed him again.

"Well, I was thinking we could go to the tower together once she was asleep." She kissed his nose. "Better yet, why wait?" Afton responded with a smile still on his face.

"You're being extremely affectionate tonight." Chelsea smiled wider.

"Aren't I always affectionate?" Afton shrugged.

"Yes, but not to this extent." Afton gave Chelsea a quick kiss, then turned his attention back to Amadora, simply looking at her. He was terrified of the responsibilities that were forced onto him by having Amadora, but looking at her face made those responsibilities seem unimportant. As if her beauty made it all seem like it was something well worth taking on. It probably would be.

"Afton." Afton looked at Chelsea and his expression horrified her. After horror, she was furious. He looked happy. It was a look that was similar to the look he always gave her. It was a small smile that said more than he was ever able to put into words.

"What?" Chelsea stared at Afton blankly for a moment. Afton became concerned, but he didn't lose that edge of happiness she saw in his face. "Chelsea?" Chelsea shook her head.

"Nothing, Afton. Never mind." Afton kept looking at Chelsea even when she started scowling at the fire. Afton didn't push and looked back at Amadora. She was still staring up at him with curious eyes. She'd already grown again. It was subtle, but it was there. After looking at Amadora for several minutes, he tickled her chin and felt proud when he heard her giggle. Chelsea looked to see and was horrified yet again. "Afton." Afton looked at Chelsea again with his happy smile.

"Yes, my love?" When Chelsea spoke, she tried to keep her voice level and normal so that her request wouldn't sound bad.

"She needs clothes, you know. And it might be a while before Aro sends Sulpicia out to get them. And you should take Demetri to get clothes for Dante while you're at it. Might as well." Afton looked at her, avoiding giving her a strange look. It seemed like an odd thing for Chelsea to care about. But the statement was true anyway.

"You're right. I'll go get Demetri and we'll go find some clothes." Chelsea smiled halfheartedly and stood up with Afton to walk to the main room where he would ask Aro if this was alright. Afton saw Demetri on his way to the main and asked him if he wanted to go ahead and find some clothes for the kids.

"Sounds like a good idea. Don't worry about asking Aro. He was planning to send us out to do that later anyway." Then Demetri looked at Dante. "You come too, Dante." Dante's eyes widened with anxiousness.

"But I don't want to. Can't you just get it?"

"Dante." Demetri said in a commanding voice. Dante sighed and nodded.

"Yes, dad." Demetri scratched Dante's head once with the tips of his finger.

"Thanks for not arguing."

"I should bring Amadora too." Chelsea chose then to intervene.

"No, not. She's only one more thing to carry. Leave her here." Afton looked at Chelsea. "It'll be alright. In fact, let Dante stay here and watch her and you two cane get the clothes a lot faster." Dante smiled a little.

"Sounds fine to me." Afton looked at Dante a moment a little nervously before looking at Demetri.

"Forgive me, Demetri, but I don't trust your son with her." Chelsea gently patted Afton's shoulder.

"Don't be that way, Afton. Dante will take good care of her." Dante looked at Chelsea with a weird look on his face. He wanted to ask why she suddenly seemed to have so much confidence in him, but he wouldn't argue. He'd rather take care of a baby over clothes shopping any day. Even if that clothes shopping usually only took an hour when it would take a human a whole day.

"Why can't you keep an eye on her?" Chelsea fought a sneer and replaced it with a slight smile.

"I suppose I could." Dante looked back at Demetri.

"Does that mean I have to go?" Demetri looked at Dante with his stern face.

"Yes, Dante." Dante kept his irritation to himself and waited for Afton and Demetri to finish talking. Afton looked at Amadora before handing her to Chelsea. The moment she was in Chelsea's arms and she looked up at her, she got nervous again and there was a shield of solid air around her again. Afton smiled at Chelsea reassuringly.

"Don't worry. She'll take it down eventually." Chelsea gave Afton another forced smile.

"It's alright. You guys get going." Afton smiled at Chelsea and Amadora and walked towards the lobby towards the front door. It was dark outside now, so going out wasn't an issue. And Afton and Demetri both had credit cards on hand that Aro gave them all years ago, so they wouldn't need to steal anything. Aro didn't like stealing from his own city, so stealing anything wasn't often unless it was an emergency and there was no time to spare for moving things like Dante's crib. Heidi ended up going with them. She didn't say it aloud, but she didn't trust Demetri and Afton to pick out clothes that were suitable for a little girl.

Once they were gone, Chelsea looked at Amadora, who still had up her little shield. Chelsea wasn't smiling at Amadora anymore. Now she was looking at her with a cruel line. This made Amadora make her shield go further out from her. Chelsea remembered where the crib was and went to the basement to get it. She placed Amadora in the crib and brought that with her to where Dante's room was. Once the crib and Amadora were settled in Dante's room, she left Amadora alone in the crib and went to the library to read. Amadora stayed alone in that room and didn't take down her shield until she knew that no one was coming to get her. When Afton and the others got back, they were all holding piles and piles of clothes from refusing to use bags. Again, Aro didn't like having bags around. He thought they made things look cluttered. He was a very particular man. Afton went to the library where Demetri said Chelsea was and saw her reading a book without Amadora. He walked over to her and Chelsea smiled when she saw him.

"Where's Amadora?" With a smiled still on her face, she answered him, hiding the irritation she felt at the moment.

"She fell asleep. I thought it best to let her sleep." Afton's face fell a little and it made Chelsea even angrier. But she didn't let that show on her face.

"I see. When did she fall asleep?"

"A few minutes ago." Chelsea closed her book and left it on the couch while she stood and walked to Afton. When she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought herself closer to him. Afton looked at her with a small smile on her face and wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly. "Don't worry about her. She'll be fine." She kissed his lips briefly. "Let's make the most of our time alone, Afton."

Chelsea kissed Afton again and didn't stop. Afton lifted her up the last few inches until she was face to face with him as they kissed. Demetri sent Dante to bed for the night when they got back. Demetri told Dante to put all the clothes in the corner of the room and leave them there until Aro sent for a dresser for the room. Afton and Demetri had gotten enough clothes that they would last them from now until they were six years old when they were supposedly meant to be full grown. Dante did as he was told and said goodnight to Demetri before he closed the door. Once all the clothes were in the corner, he looked at the crib that was suddenly in his room. He walked over to it and saw a little girl in it sleeping. This was the first time he actually saw Amadora. She really was a pretty baby. Dante watched Amadora sleep for a few minutes, trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible. But eventually, Amadora opened her eyes and saw Dante. When she saw him, she put up her shield again, though Dante still couldn't see it.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." She didn't let up her shield. She only looked at him nervously. "I'm Dante. It's nice to meet you Amadora." Amadora still didn't take down her shield, but she did start feeling a lot better. "I'm glad to finally have a friend." When Dante said that, Amadora finally smiled for the first time that day and took down her shield completely. When she did, Dante smiled wider at her. They were both dazzled by each other's smile.

She reached out to him and Dante pulled down the door of the crib so her could reach in and take her into his arms. She was already the size of a baby that was a few months old and her hair was growing already. It was a bright blonde that shined in the moonlight that showed itself brightly through the white moon of the stained glass window of the castle. He realized she was only covered by the blanket and went to the pile of clothes to look for something that would fit her at the moment. She picked up a little pink one piece and Dante helped her get it on. Once the little one piece was on, Amadora lifted herself up into a sitting position. Dante smiled and watched her do it all by herself. Then Dante lifted her back into his arms and held her close. Dante held her for a moment before taking her back to her crib.

"You want to hear a story, Amadora?" She smiled and nodded. Dante smiled back and started telling her the story his mother had made up for him. Amadora was engrossed in the story and even got scared when Dante began to describe the evil monster and the epic fight between it and Dante. When Dante finished the story, Amadora clapped gently in approval and said a series of vowels attempting to give appreciation. "I'm glad you liked it, Amadora. Next time I'll tell you your own story. How would you like that?"

Amadora clapped some more and Dante laughed under his breath at her eagerness. He said his last goodnights to her and went to bed himself, falling asleep quickly and having dreams of his own little storybook world.


	4. Clocks

**Clocks**

Shortly after Amadora was born, Aro and the others had a grand, vibrant, and stunning to look at, Christmas tree in the main room off to the corner. It was a tree that was decorated beautifully and done the old fashioned way with candles in the tree, blue, pink, gold, and many other colored ornaments that people didn't make anymore. And at the very top of the tree was a gorgeous and elaborately made glass angel with a hallo made of gold and a blue angel's dress made from silk and angel wings made of diamonds. And because of all the lights from the candles, the diamond wings sparkled and forced one to look at the angel and its radiance. It was simply there one morning when Amadora and Dante woke up and they spent thirty minutes just looking at and admiring the tree. And Aro was sure to have the Trans Siberian Orchestra, The Celtic Women, and several other bands singing and playing Christmas songs. And like father like son, Dante detested most of the Christmas music because it was limited and therefore repetitive and it drove him nuts. Amadora would hum to things, but it didn't take long for her to get bored with the music too.

Aside from the tree, Aro didn't have a whole lot of Christmas decorations put up. Sofia brought a few snowmen from home and put the small figurines on her desk, but no more than that. But outside in the city, everyone was amuck with talk of Christmas and the buying of Christmas presents for their families and loved ones and Christmas specials were coming on nonstop. In December, Dante and Amadora had watched _**It's a Wonderful Life**_, _**The Grinch**_, _**While You Were Sleeping**_, _**Christmas Carol**_ (five different versions), Christmas episodes of shows, and several other Christmas movies. It was the single time of the season when Felix was rarely ever in the lobby watching something.

"Dad?" Dante asked Demetri while they were in the library one day.

"What?" Then Dante looked at Felix, who was sitting at another chair across from them reading something in French. Then Dante looked at Demetri again.

"Why has he been in here so much? I thought Felix hated reading." Demetri smiled a little, knowing that Felix would answer Dante for him since he could hear every word.

"True, Dante, I hate reading. I find it to be uneventful and dull."

"You liked Angels and Demons." Demetri said with a small smile.

"True, but few other books interest me. And sadly enough, after you read it once, it loses the element of suspense and surprise and it bores me again. But the reason I've been here for most of December is because I hate Christmas specials. I've been alive long before the TV was invented."

"And long before it had more than eight channels." Felix and Demetri laughed a little at Demetri's joke.

"True. But the point is that I'm sick of watching them. Take a wild guess at how many times I've seen _**It's a Wonderful Life**_. Go on, guess." Felix looked at Dante expectantly and Dante looked at Felix with a thoughtful face. Eventually, Dante shrugged.

"Over a hundred times?" Felix nodded.

"Well, Dante, let's test your math skills. I've seen that movie every Christmas since 1946 when it came out. That same Christmas, I watched the movie about 30 times total. And I've seen it that many times every year since 1946. Now tell me, Dante. How many times have I seen that movie?" Dante took a moment to do the math in his head.

"Eighteen hundred ninety times?" Felix smiled and nodded his head.

"Very good Dante." Dante looked at Felix awkwardly.

"No wonder you hate that movie."

"No wonder, indeed." Demetri laughed a little to himself before getting Dante back to reading. Instead of watching most of the Christmas movies, Demetri had Dante reading them.

Then one morning, when Amadora and Dante woke up, they went down to the main room and saw presents under the tree. Out of curiosity, Amadora and Dante went to the tree to look at all the presents. They were all relatively small in size. No larger than the size of a movie or large book. Some boxes were a shape that made it obvious it was jewelry. None of the boxes had names on them to tell who they were for. It wasn't needed since everyone always remembered who they gave gifts to and what the box looked like when wrapped up. Aro and Caius ignored Amadora and Dante while they were looking, and they didn't look for long. Those were the only changes to the tree for the rest of December. When it was Christmas and Dante and Amadora got downstairs, all the presents that had been there were gone. Most were now being worn around Athenadora's and Sulpicia's necks and fingers and wrists. And Dante noticed that they were both wearing new dresses that were far more extravagant than was necessary for every day purposes.

Amadora noticed that Chelsea had a new ring and Afton had a new watch, but she tried not to think about it. Instead, she let herself think about how silly it was to give a vampire a watch as a gift. Dante saw Demetri and Heidi talking as closely as ever and had to roll his eyes at the fact that they hadn't given each other anything and that they still weren't together. He wanted to say something, but what would he tell him? Dante and Amadora left the room as soon as they saw everyone with their new gifts and went to the lobby to watch a Christmas special. Afton was about to ask Amadora to come over so he could give her the present he got her, but Chelsea distracted him with a smile and a kiss.

Demetri hadn't gotten anything for Dante. The last time he did, when he gave Dante that book, it all blew up in his face and he didn't want to do that again. His own fault for letting his mother come up in the conversation. Heidi saw the look of guilt in Demetri's eyes and decided to pull him with her until they got to the tower balcony. Afton and Chelsea were still downstairs, and Chelsea did always say finder's keepers. Heidi smiled to herself at the joke in her head and returned to a straight face before turning around and looking at Demetri when they were in the tower balcony. Demetri looked confused and shrugged when they arrived, not sure what it was she was wanting to talk to him about that was obviously so private.

"What's wrong?" Heidi smiled a little reassuringly.

"I was going to ask you the same question." Demetri didn't change the look on his face, but he was still confused.

"What do you mean?" Heidi kept smiling reassuringly and walked over to him and stopped when she was right in front of him.

"You look upset about something. Guilty maybe?" Demetri looked at her, but didn't say anything. "You can tell me." Demetri and Heidi kept looking at each other before Demetri finally looked away.

"You really do know me like a book don't you?" Heidi grinned and nodded, trying to encourage him to talk more. "I just wish I'd gotten him something is all. But last time I gave him something, it didn't go well." Heidi smiled triumphantly at him and Demetri gave Heidi a weird look. "Why is that good?" Heidi shook her head.

"I just can't believe how well I know you." Then Heidi was gone and back again within the same five seconds. In hand, she had a box that wasn't wrapped. "Look at it. I think Dante might like this." Demetri looked at her a moment before finally opening the box. Inside were beginner's violin music books as well as violin sheet music for some of the most famous classical songs.

"What is this?"

"It's stuff to help Dante get better at playing the violin. He likes playing it and I thought it would be nice to help him learn variety." Demetri looked through the books and looked up at Heidi and smiled.

"You've saved my ass again, Heidi." Heidi kept smiling back.

"That's what I'm here for. I'll put your name on the card with mine." Demetri hugged Heidi, which took her by surprise, and kissed the top of her head.

"You're a life saver, Heidi." She smiled up at Demetri with a feeling of excitement.

"There're millions of people I lured into danger that would disagree with that." Demetri chuckled and kissed Heidi's forehead again before taking the box and writing his name next to Heidi's on the card and brought it where he heard Amadora's tenor. Before he got to the lobby, Afton stopped him and handed him a little box that he wanted Demetri to give to Amadora.

The box was long and rectangular and was wrapped in pink wrapping paper with purple stars on it and a little purple bow with a little snowman attached to it and a little card tucked under that said Amadora's name in angelic script. Once Demetri had the box, Afton went back to where Chelsea was and left Demetri to get the gifts to them. When he got to the lobby, he found Dante and Amadora watching the plasma screen and a Dr. Sues Grinch Special. When a commercial came up, Dante changed the channel to A Christmas Carol. Amadora was the one who saw Demetri walking over to them with boxes in his hands and patted Dante's arm so he would look too.

"What are those?" Dante asked. Demetri smiled awkwardly and small as he approached them.

"They're your presents." They both looked stunned when Demetri said that. Seeing those looks on their faces made him feel awful. But he tried his best to smile through his nervousness and walked the rest of the distances to them and handed them their presents.

"For us?" Demetri nodded.

"Yeah. The small box is for Amadora. Afton asked me to give it to you. And your present, Dante, is from me and Heidi." The last part surprised Dante, but also made him a little proud. It was nice to hear Demetri say that he and Heidi had done something like this together. In Dante's opinion, it made it seem like maybe the two were a little closer to becoming more than just friends. He knew Demetri loved Heidi, but he didn't want to push. Dante didn't think that Demetri respected his opinion enough to listen to what he would have to say about something like that.

"Wow. Thank you." Dante looked at the box and opened it, happy when he saw the books inside. "Violin sheet music?" Demetri nodded.

"Yeah. I know you took a liking to the violin. And Heidi thought you would like to know other songs. And there's a book in there that helps you learn all the notes and such."

When Amadora's present was opened, she looked at it and was baffled by what was inside. It was a white gold bracelet that had little Opaque stones in little gold woven containers all along the bracelet. Amadora smiled and took it out and Dante helped her clasp the bracelet when they had it around her wrist. When it was on, Amadora looked at the bracelet admiringly and for several minutes. Then she looked at Demetri with a smile.

"Where's daddy?"

"He's in the tower balcony with Chelsea. They've been there for a good five minutes, so I would wait..." Amadora ignored Demetri after he said where they were and jumped off the couch and started running towards the tower where he said they were. Demetri sighed and rubbed his face.

"Do you think Chelsea will at least let her say thank you?" When Demetri was done rubbing his face, he took a deep breath, looked at Dante, and answered in an annoyed flat voice.

"I think you know the answer to that as well as I do, Dante." Dante and Demetri looked at each other awkwardly for a moment. Then Demetri took another deep breath. "Don't worry about bothering any of us if you practice playing your violin late at night." Then Demetri smiled awkwardly again and walked out of the lobby and followed Heidi's tenor.

Dante looked after Demetri for a moment, then looked back at the plasma screen and started looking through the channels for something to watch. To his delight, he found a channel that was showing Hannibal and it was still in the opening credits. Even better, it was on the Starz channel, which meant it was commercial free. Amadora knew that Afton was with Chelsea, so she walked up the tower slowly when she reached the stairs. To her relief, she only heard them talking about trivial things. When Amadora finally reached the top of the stairs, Chelsea looked briefly at Amadora, then immediately turned her attention back to Afton, whom she started kissing affectionately. Amadora knew what Chelsea was doing and tried to ignore it.

"Daddy?" When Afton heard Amadora, he gently pushed Chelsea away from him and kissed the tip of her nose before looking at Amadora. Chelsea glared at Afton, but only an instant, then started looking at Amadora with the same look of contempt. Afton smiled a little when he saw the bracelet on Amadora's wrist.

"Did you like that?" Amadora nodded enthusiastically.

"Thank you, daddy. It 's beautiful." Afton was about to speak further, but Chelsea interrupted and kept her voice business like and cold.

"That's good to know, Amadora. But if you'll excuse us, your father and I were in the middle of something important."

"It's alright, Chelsea. It can wait." Chelsea didn't look at Afton. She only looked at Amadora. And her expression never changed if only becoming angrier. The look in Chelsea's eyes made Amadora shiver and she instinctively covered herself with her shield. Of course, neither of them saw her do so. Finally, she shook her head politely and looked at Afton with a polite and formal smile. It was a smile that disturbed Afton because it seemed so detached emotionally.

"That's alright. Dante and I were watching something. I better get back." Then Amadora started running back down the stairs and made her way to the lobby. When she got back to the lobby, Dante was at the part of the movie where Claris Starling was being interrogated by her board members about the shooting that happened at the fish market. Dante looked up at Amadora when she reached the couch.

"How'd it go?" Amadora shook her head.

"I hate Chelsea. She never lets me near daddy." Dante didn't know how to respond to that. He could have told her that would happen, but that would only make her feel worse, needless to say. "Why does daddy let her push him around?"

"Because she has sex with him, Amadora." Dante said that before thinking and immediately wished he could take it back. The comment was rude and inappropriate and she didn't deserve that, especially not now. "I'm sorry, Amadora. That was out of line." She shook her head.

"No, you're right. I just wish you weren't." Dante's face became sad and he looked forward at the movie.

"I wish that every day." Amadora laughed without humor.

"At least your daddy likes you. Mine would rather spend more time with a vindictive monster than his own daughter." Dante then gave Amadora a weird look.

"Are you kidding? My dad always sounds uncomfortable or mad the few times we ever really talk. He never wants to talk to me, so it's uncomfortable when one of us tries."

"At least you guys talk. It's better than nothing." Dante and Amadora were silent again after that and put their attention back to Hannibal, both hoping it would make them feel better to see people suffering more than they were at the moment.

Dante did make good use of his Christmas presents. At the end of Hannibal, Dante and Amadora went back to their room and started playing around with his violin, learning the notes and learning how to play more than just the lullaby from Pan's Labyrinth. As Demetri promised, no one bothered them about practicing even when they were up late into the night practicing together. They ended up falling asleep with Dante holding his violin in his hand with Amadora resting her head on his stomach while he was flat on the floor. Demetri and Afton entered their room and saw them like that, and Demetri couldn't help but smile at the fact that Dante seemed to really like his present. Afton was a little annoyed with the position, but he let it go and only patted Amadora gently until she was groaning herself awake. Her movement made Dante wake up too.

"Get up you two. It's ten o'clock." Afton was the one that spoke. Amadora started getting up, but had to do so by putting most of her weight on Dante's stomach. Dante stayed quiet, but when Amadora was off him, he spoke.

"Ten isn't that late." Afton gave Dante a weird look, then looked over at Demetri, who sighed to himself.

"Just get up, Dante. You don't need to be asleep most of the day."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to do that seeing as our dads are vampires?" At Dante's smart remark, Demetri came over to him and lifted him to his feet by his shirt.

"Dante, when I tell you to get up, that means you get up." Dante stayed on his feet, not wanting to test Demetri's patience further. It wasn't often that Demetri yelled at him, but when he did, it was always frightening. And Dante knew better than to push his luck. If there was anyone in the coven that Dante feared, or for that matter respected, it was Demetri.

Once they were both up, Dante and Amadora continued to play with the violin. That's what they both did for most of the rest of December. And when it was New Years, Amadora and Dante snuck up to the tower balcony, getting there before Afton and Chelsea had a chance to take it, and waited there for the fireworks that would start going off in celebration. In the distance, further away from the castle and further north in the city, at about nine at night, a news person got in one of the historical building's balcony and started talking about the year and what good and bad things happened throughout the year. They both waited patiently at the balcony waiting for the eminent finally of fireworks and Andrea Bocelli songs filling the city.

At around eleven forty five, Andrea Bocelli started singing his own Italian variation of Auld Lang Syne with his fans holding up lighters in the air to the flow of his voice. Shortly into the song, Amadora told Dante he should try to play along with his music. Dante didn't fight the matter long and went to get his violin and was back in seconds and started playing with the orchestra at a good opening part. There were a few elaborations to the song, but after hearing the beginning, Dante was able to follow the changes pretty well. Amadora started paying more attention to Dante and his playing as opposed to Bocelli's orchestra. At the end of the song, everyone started waiting in anticipation for the countdown and Amadora and Dante waited eagerly with them while staring at the large clock.

Then, at midnight on the dot after people counted down from ten, the whole city screamed Happy New Year and fireworks shot into the sky making a flawless and stunning display of color in the sky. Then the city filled with music sang by Andrea Bocelli and a number of other famous Italian singers. The operatic music filled the city and made it seemed other worldly and beautiful. Amadora leaned against Dante's shoulder and Dante rested his head on hers as they watched the fireworks blast into the sky and earning calls of approval from the people below.

"Happy New Year, Dante." Dante smiled while still looking out into the city.

"Happy New Year, Amadora."

They ended up falling asleep at the balcony after watching a thirty minute fireworks show and woke the next morning both in their beds. Demetri had gone up to the tower to check on them and found them asleep with their backs to each other. He took them both down to bed and let them sleep in however long they wanted. Demetri was still proud from when he'd heard Dante play. It wasn't perfect yet, but he was getting there pretty fast. Demetri had never taken an interest in learning how to play an instrument. It made him proud to know that his son was good at something held in such high regard. Especially when he didn't know exactly how to play the song. He only knew the basic song and was able to use that to follow along with Andrea Bocelli's orchestra. That was something few people could ever do. Heidi was proud too. In the months that she'd known Dante, she'd grown very fond of him. She even started to feel affection for him as if he were her own son. Demetri had felt a joy like no other when he'd heard Heidi say that. He'd made a New Year's resolution in that moment to one day work up the courage to tell her he loved her.

When Dante and Amadora were awake, they made their way down to the main room looking for Demetri and Afton. Of course, when they got there, Afton and Chelsea were engrossed in conversation. Chelsea was sure to keep Afton's attention when Amadora came into the room. Demetri motioned for Dante to come over to him where he was talking to Felix and Heidi about something. When Dante was close enough, Demetri rested his hand on Dante's head. Dante was used to this. Dante was under the impression that Demetri did this so he'd be able to keep him in line every time he said something wrong. Though that's often what happened, Demetri did it so that he would be able to keep Dante close to him. He didn't like it when Aro yelled at him for getting into things he shouldn't, so keeping his hand on his head was his way of making sure he stayed close.

With so few things for them to do, Amadora and Dante would always try to come up with new, creative ways to entertain themselves, like tormenting pedestrians. Thanks to their tormenting, Amadora learned how to solidify air that wasn't around her, so she could trap, protect, or block people from far away. Aro was thrilled to death to learn that and was eager to have her practice her power so it would be well trained and useful for when they needed it. He wasn't all that eager about how Amadora learned how to use her power like that. One day, Dante and Amadora had been sitting next to a window looking out into the city when they'd seen a mime in the plaza entertaining a group of people surrounding him. Jokingly, Dante asked Amadora if she thought that mime would actually stay quiet if a block was really slowly pushing him down. Amadora thought about it, then said let's find out.

So after concentrating really hard, Amadora created a solid block of invisible air and slowly made it descend. At first, nothing happened. But after a few moments, the mime looked up and started pushing up like he normally would in his act. The only difference was that he suddenly wasn't smiling at his audience mockingly. After a few more moments, he started crouching down and eventually started screaming. Dante started laughing when the mime started screaming and the pedestrians started leaving while the mime kept screaming. Eventually, when the invisible box was about to crush him to the ground, Demetri came up behind Dante and flicked his head to get his attention.

"What?" Demetri kept a stern face.

"What are you two doing?" Dante shrugged indifferently.

"Tormenting a mime. Amadora formed an invisible box above him and has been making it slowly go down on him." Demetri gave Dante a weird look.

"You were attempting to murder a mime?" Dante grinned innocently.

"You say it like that's a bad thing." Demetri and Dante just stared at each other for a moment, neither saying anything more. Amadora only watched the two share the awkward moment. Then Demetri finally let out a breath and shook his head.

"Just don't do that anymore." Aro said the same thing a little later, though he still praised Amadora for discovering the new way to use her gift. Afton smiled to himself with how well she was doing. Chelsea noticed this and it made her even angrier.

With the exception of tormenting mimes, the new found use for Amadora's power offered endless entertainment for the two of them. It helped the days go by faster and with more enjoyment. Before they knew it, it was March, and the city was preparing for St. Marcus Day. Amadora and Dante watched the people as they dressed the city in red ribbons and the church covered itself in red ribbons and banners saying, '_Felice Giorno di Santo Marcus'_. Aro was putting more effort in helping plan the event than Marcus was, which Dante thought was really odd. It seemed strange that the man the celebration was dedicated to didn't seem to care about people celebrating him.

"You know what I've always wanted to do?" Dante asked Amadora as they watched the start of St. Marcus day.

"What?"

"I've always wanted to go walk through the city by myself. You know, without dad." Amadora looked at Dante with a little surprise in her eyes.

"When were you ever out?"

"The day you were born, my dad and your dad made me go with them to get clothes for you and for me. But I didn't get to see much. I only saw the way to the store and back. And I know there's more to Volterra than that." Amadora smiled.

"Always dreaming big, aren't you?" Dante chuckled a little.

"I like to be hopeful. It makes life easier." Amadora nodded aimlessly. Then, Dante grinned and looked at Amadora. "You know what?" Amadora looked at Dante and shrugged.

"No. What?"

"Let's go." Amadora gave Dante a weird look.

"What are you talking about?" Dante shrugged.

"It's Saint Marcus Day. There are a lot of people in the Plaza and the sun is shining bright in the sky. They couldn't ruin our day if they tried." Dante was really grinning now. Amadora still didn't look convinced.

"Are you out of your mind? If we sneak out, Aro's going to serve us to the coven on skewers." Dante didn't change the grin on his face.

"That's why we make this the best Saint Marcus Day ever. Enjoy every minute. We'll even buy ice cream and pretend to love it." Amadora couldn't help but giggle.

"We don't have any money." Dante grinned impossibly wider and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little plastic platinum card. Amadora's eyes widened at the sight. "That's.."

"Caius' credit card, baby. With this, we'll have enough money to buy the Vatican if we wanted."

"Didn't Aro already do that?" They both laughed at Amadora's little joke. When their laughter was under control, Dante kept smiling at Amadora.

"So what do you say? Want to have a day on the town?" Amadora looked at Dante thoughtfully for a moment, trying to think if it was worth it. Finally, she smiled and nodded her head.

"Alright. Let's do it." Dante smiled like he knew she would agree and took her hand.

"We need to work fast." With that, Dante jumped out of the window and pulled Amadora with him, her falling onto his back so he could carry her while he ran. Dante ran directly into the sun to ensure that Demetri and the others wouldn't be able to follow them.

Once they'd reached the open sunlight, Dante looked around for a stand that was selling red cloaks. With any luck, that would make it easier for them to enjoy the day and harder for the others to find them. They picked robes that fit them, paid for the robes and put in the fake vampire teeth they got for free with purchase, and paid for them with Caius' credit card. Dante took Amadora's hand so she was close and wouldn't get lost in the crowd.

"These plastic teeth are gross." I smiled in humor.

"Yeah, they are. But it's part of the costume."

"We are the costume. We don't need these." Dante chuckled.

"That's true. Good thing they're free, right?" She smiled.

"Indeed." Then Amadora pulled out the teeth and through them on the ground. Dante kept his on for fun. "So what should we do now that we're out in the city?"

"We'll stay in the plaza and in the sun light. If we go anywhere with shade, we'll be taken back home. There's music, booths, entertainment, everything we need is in the plaza."

"Then what shall we do first?" Dante looked around the plaza and saw a stage that was empty. A sign off to the side said that a show would start in five minutes.

"Let's watch that play." With Amadora's hand in his, Dante pulled Amadora with him to the empty stage surrounded by eager viewers.

"What are they showing? Does it say anywhere?" Dante looked around a moment until he found another sigh off to the side. When he saw it, he laughed.

"It's improve."

"So they're making up a story as they go along?" Dante nodded.

"Either that or it's pretty much standup comedy." Amadora shrugged.

"Whatever works." Then Amadora looked around the plaza trying to find more options for entertainment.

As Dante thought, the show was a group of people making up stories and asking for suggestions from the audience on what skits they should do. As the play went on, Dante looked around and shivered when he saw Demetri and Afton. They were on the other side of the plaza in the shade of one of the tall, old buildings covered in their dark cloaks. Dante could see Demetri's face and it sent a shiver down his spine. He'd never seen his father look that angry at him. And Afton was glaring at him too. Amadora was still watching the play while Dante looked at the others. He looked away at the stage trying to avoid eye contact. He could feel their eyes on him.

"Hey, Amadora." Amadora looked at Dante, still smiling from laughter at the improve show.

"Yeah, Dante?"

"I'm bored. Let's do something else." Dante knew they were screwed as soon as they got home. He wanted to make their day as fun as possible.

"Like what?" Dante looked around the plaza avoiding his father's glare as he looked. He saw the giant fountain in the middle of the plaza that held the clock and looked at the time. It was almost noon. The precession of red cloaked monks holding a large statue of the Saint Mark would soon arrive at the plaza.

"Let's play in the fountain. I've always wanted to play in a pool." Amadora smiled.

"Won't we get arrested or something?" Dante shook his head.

"Not if we pretend to be part of the entertainment. But let's wait until after all the priests get here with the statue. I'd hate to be disrespectful." Amadora smiled and followed Dante to the fountain.

They took a seat on the edge and waited for the precession of priests to get to the plaza. When they arrived, they circled around the plaza two times before the statue was taken back into the church at the end. When the statue was back in the church, all the people went back to what they'd been doing and ceased the round of applause. Then Dante stood on the ledge and jumped into the fountain of water and started running around laughing. Amadora watched him and was laughing with him. Then Dante pulled his shirt and cloak over his head and threw them out of the fountain towards Amadora. Everyone started watching the strange boy that was running around in the fountain.

"Dante, what are you doing?!" Amadora forced the words through her laughter. Dante smiled at Amadora and stopped laughing long enough to swim back to where she was sitting. "You're out of your mind, Dante?!"

"Probably. Join me. You can be blissfully insane too." Amadora started shaking her head.

"I don't think so, Dante." Dante grinned wider.

"I do think so." Then Dante took Amadora's hand and pulled her with him into the water. But she solidified the water so she wouldn't fall in, though the water still looked like flowing water. "Oh my god, you're walking on water." Amadora giggled and shook her head.

"Technically, I'm laying on water." Dante chuckled and nodded.

"Either way, it's pretty cool." They both smiled and Dante looked over Amadora's shoulder and noticed that a bunch of people were staring at them. Instead of getting nervous, Dante grinned and looked back at Amadora. "I have an idea." Amadora giggled.

"You always do." They smiled at each other, and with the invisible block still beneath Amadora's feet, Dante pulled Amadora up to stand and stepped onto the invisible block she was on. "What are you doing?"

"Make this solid block go all around the fountain."

"Why?" Dante grinned while looking at the people watching them.

"I told you I have an idea." Amadora gave him a suspicious smile, but she didn't question him. She formed a solid block all along the fountain and walked freely as if she were really walking on water. Now everyone was looking at Dante and Amadora. Dante smiled naturally at the on lookers. "Ladies and gentleman. Boys and girls.

"We all know that Saint Marcus day is a day of celebration. A day to commemorate the man that drove away all the vampires from this city so many centuries ago." Then Dante's face became menacing and evil. "Or did he?" Dante glanced at Amadora and told her to do something with the water under his breath. She smiled at the audience theatrically and used her power to send water flying up. People around them awed the action. In the distance, Demetri and Afton could both feel their blood getting hot.

"What the hell is he doing?"

"I don't know. I don't know why he's making this worse." Afton glared back at Demetri.

"If anything happens to Amadora because of that little snot of yours…" Demetri interrupted Afton and kept his voice calm, but cold and harsh.

"Watch your tongue, Afton. Your daughter's as guilty as Dante. They'll both get punished equally for their stupidity."

"Stupidity nothing. This was your son's fault."

"I see Amadora didn't argue." Afton growled, but it was low under his breath so the people near them wouldn't hear. Dante wooed the crowed and smiled openly.

"If anyone would be so kind as to spare a violin." People smiled and after a moment, someone came forward with a violin and handed it to Dante. "Thank you good sir." Dante set up and started playing while telling Marcus' 'story'.

Once Amadora got used to it, she was able to use her gift to do beautiful things to the water, adding to the magic of the story. As Dante told the story and played the violin, he would move around like he was dancing. Amadora's and Dante's beauty combined with the music had the audience enchanted and engrossed in the story. At one point in the story, Dante stopped playing and looked at the audience.

"Vampires haunted Volterra and took the lives of innocent women all over." Then Dante grabbed a hold of one of the girls in the audience, a girl that could be no older than thirteen, and pretended to bite her neck. The girl, to Dante's relief, cooperated and fell to the ground. "They would be bitten, but then arise again as the living dead, helping those that killed her to inflect terror in the towns people who once loved her." As Dante spoke, he pulled the girl back to her feet and she smiled at the audience with the fake vampire fangs she already had on. Then Dante gently motioned for her to attack the audience and she did so, making the audience scream in mock fear.

When he was done with the story, he kept playing, with Amadora playing with water and dancing around the fountain. People stayed and watched them with wide eyes and big smiles. People started throwing money onto Dante's cloak. Some were even hundred euro bills. They were both so engrossed themselves that they started losing track of time. And before they knew it, it was almost sunset. Even thought it was almost night, people still crowded around Dante and listened to him play the violin while Amadora spun around the fountain, seemingly walking on water. One woman commented that the special effects were excellent, so Dante wasn't concerned. He knew that wouldn't save him and Amadora from getting into trouble, but at least the day would be worth it. When Dante saw the sunset, he looked at the Audience again and tossed the violin at the man who'd lent it to him.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. It is nightfall and the beasts soon approach. Keep an eye out for those that drink blood." Then Dante smiled after putting back in the fake vampire teeth. "For when one finds you, there's no escape." Then, for effect, Dante laughed evilly and Amadora did something to make the water shoot up elaborately and the audience screamed with joy and started clapping.

When the sun was finally down, Demetri and Afton pushed their way through the crowd to get to the front, no matter if they had to push people aside. Demetri was fuming and had only gotten angrier at Dante as the day went on. Afton was placing the blame entirely on Dante and felt that Amadora had done nothing but listen to a boy that was looking for trouble. Finally, when they were at the front, Demetri and Afton still had looks of death on their faces and they were both aimed at Dante. Dante noticed them both, but did his best not to let that frighten him. He simply announced to the crowd that the magic was over for tonight and thanked them for the money and their attention. When people started walking away, Demetri grabbed the cloak filled with money and closed it so nothing would get out, but he never took his eyes off Dante. Amadora was looking at them too. And she felt a chill go down her spine. The whole day, she hadn't really given a lot of thought as to how bad their punishment for this would be. Now that it was so close, she was beginning to wonder if all this was worth it.

Without a word, Demetri grabbed Dante by the arm and kept pulling him along as he walked back to the castle. Afton took Amadora in his arms and followed after Demetri. They entered through the lobby where Sofia was still sitting, doing her nails. She was about to greet them when they arrived, but she saw the look on Demetri's face and coward at the site.

Everybody was in the main room waiting for Afton and Demetri to return with the children and all were either furious or indifferent. Aro and Caius looked furious, Marcus looked like he didn't care. In truth, he wasn't surprised that they would try to go out on their own. No one liked staying alone in this castle with nothing to do. They were children that were simply looking for something to entertain themselves. Innocent enough. Of course, Aro and Caius didn't see it that way. And their little display in the plaza did nothing to lessen their fury. When Demetri and Afton finally had the kids in the main room, they closed the doors behind them and stood behind their child while Aro and Caius glared at them freely. Aro's voice, though quiet, was angry.

"Come over here, Dante." Dante looked at Aro with caution and didn't walk over to him. "Get over here!!" Dante stood still and avoided showing any fear of him. Demetri, not wanted Dante to be in any more trouble than he already was, slapped Dante's back to make him go forward, telling him to go to Aro. Dante reluctantly walked over to Aro and took his time getting to him. When he was close enough to Aro, he reached over and grabbed Dante's hand to hear his thoughts. When he was done, he threw his hand back at him and started rubbing his face.

"What were you thinking?!" Caius yelled when Aro was done listening to Dante. Aro answered Caius.

"He wanted to go out and have fun. Plain and simple."

"I don't care what his reasoning is." Caius looked back at Dante. "You ran out of the castle, took Amadora with you and kept her under a shield so we couldn't find you, and worst, you parade Amadora's power like it's a toy! Have you any idea what could have happened?! People could have found out about us!"

"Caius, your yelling isn't helping my mood." Aro said. Caius gave Aro a look of appalled horror.

"Your mood?!

"Stop yelling Caius. You don't even know what you would deem the worst of it."

"What the hell are you talking about? What else did he do?" Aro sighed in anger.

"He stole your credit card." Caius' eyes widened as did everyone else's. They couldn't believe Dante had been able to do it without getting caught until now.

"He What?!!" Caius glared back at Dante. "How dare you steal my things, you little brat?!!" Dante didn't step back even as Caius stood as he yelled. Demetri instinctively walked a little closer in anticipation, though this appeared to be unnoticed by everyone else. Dante only sighed.

"You know, Caius, if you just now realized that I took your card, clearly it isn't all that important to you." Caius almost turned red. Demetri covered his face with his hand and knew Dante was really in trouble now and he would have to be the one to handle it.

"How dare you back talk me?!" Dante shrugged.

"I'm just saying." Caius closed the distance and hit Dante clear across the face. Demetri ran to him and grabbed onto him so Dante wouldn't fall, though his grip on Dante was stern and tight.

"And I'm just saying. Do you know what they used to do to people who stole from others when I was human? Take a wild guess."

"Stoned them?" Dante was being sarcastic and Demetri knew it, so he swatted him across the head to tell him to shut up.

"That's an option. Or I could cut off your hands. I'm fine with doing either." Demetri looked at Caius cautiously and held onto the back of Dante's shirt to hold Dante close to him. Aro was the one to speak next.

"Sit down, Caius." Caius glared at Dante a moment before finally listening to Aro and taking a seat. Athenadora, while glaring at Dante with Caius, started rubbing his shoulders to help calm him. "Dante, what you've done is serious. And you should know that we aren't going to tolerate your behavior." Then Aro looked at Amadora. "And you were dumb enough to listen to Dante, so you're at fault just as Dante is." Then Aro looked at Afton and Demetri. "I expect you two to handle your children. Put them in time out, take away a privilege, beat them for all I care. Just handle it." Caius looked at Aro in horror again.

"Time out my ass! I won't accept any less than a thorough beating on both of them. Do you two hear me?!" Afton and Demetri nodded reluctantly.

"Yes sir."

Demetri and Afton both grabbed a hold of their child's arm and pulled them with them to another part of the castle. Chelsea followed after Afton and Amadora with a well hidden smile on her face at the situation. Heidi watched Demetri leave the main room and saw the look on his face. She knew Demetri didn't want to do this to Dante. He'd already hit him over the head. As far as Demetri was concerned, one smack was enough, but Aro and Caius didn't see it that way. When Demetri and Afton were done, they sent them both to their room, but Demetri stayed at the door to make sure nothing happened. Chelsea told Afton there was no point and dragged him with her to the top balcony to be together. Demetri gave Chelsea a nasty look as they walked away and Heidi noticed this look on his face before it was gone. She walked over to him and hugged him a moment before letting go and looking up at his face.

"What's wrong?" Demetri gave Heidi a weird look.

"What the hell do you think is wrong? I just had to beat my son to nearly a pulp and listen to Amadora start balling because Chelsea hit her instead of Afton. I'm in a bad mood." Heidi sighed.

"I meant why were you glaring at Chelsea just now?" Demetri rubbed his face in annoyance and sighed.

"I just can't believe her. She doesn't even like Amadora and she insisted on hitting Amadora. And I ask Afton to stand here with me to make sure nothing else happens and now she insists that they don't need to be watched and she takes him away. You'd think they never had sex before." Heidi smiled a little sympathetically.

"She never had to share Afton before. She's not adjusting well."

"No shit. It's been four months. You'd think she'd be used to Amadora by now." Heidi shrugged.

"Well, Amadora isn't hers. I don't think she's as mad about Afton having a child as much as he didn't have that child with her and she's sort of bringing out her anger towards Amadora's mother on her."

"She doesn't deserve that from her. What's worse is Afton let's her do it."

"I know, Demetri. But as infuriating as it is, there's really nothing you can do. She's not your daughter." Demetri looked at Heidi for a moment before sighing and shrugging.

"Doesn't mean I'm not allowed to disagree with it." Heidi smiled and hugged Demetri again. Demetri hugged her back. "Do you think he'll be mad long?"

"You have to remember, Demetri. He's your son. You're his father before you're his friend." Demetri rolled his eyes.

"What friends? I didn't even do anything for him yesterday." At first, Heidi was confused, but then she remembered what yesterday had been.

"He's a whole year already, huh?" Demetri nodded.

"Yeah. A whole year. And I didn't even tell him Happy Birthday. No wonder he did what he did." Heidi gave Demetri a lecturing look, but otherwise said nothing. Meanwhile, Dante and Amadora were in their own beds staring at the ceiling. Dante wouldn't apologize for escaping. Though Amadora was mad about the whipping she got, she wasn't mad at Dante. His heart had been in the right place and she wouldn't penalize him for it.

"Did you know my birthday was yesterday?" Amadora looked at Dante with a little surprise.

"It was?" Dante nodded.

"March 18th. I'm a year old yesterday." Amadora didn't answer him at first. She thought about today and looked at Dante with a sad face.

"Is that why you wanted to go out into the city?" Dante nodded again.

"It was the only gift I'd get. I don't think my dad remembers."

"Of course he remembers. He's a vampire."

"Doesn't matter. Even if he remembered, I didn't get so much as a 'Happy Birthday, son'." At the last part, Dante chocked up and turned so his back was now facing Amadora and he was staring at the wall.

"Happy Birthday, Dante." Dante turned around and looked at Amadora. Then he finally smiled.

"Thanks for remembering, Amadora." Amadora smiled sweetly. Then she got out of bed and walked over to his. When she was close, she let herself into bed and hugged Dante.

"Of course I remembered." Amadora stayed with Dante that night and mumbled the birthday song to him once before she fell asleep.

After that little incident with St. Marcus Day, Dante and Amadora were to never leave the sight of Afton and Demetri or anyone else in the coven. Aro demanded to know where they were at all times and they were often forced to stay in the main room where Aro and Caius were sure to keep an eye on them. It took a lot of time for Caius to get over Dante's little maneuver of stealing his credit card. Even after Aro explained how he'd done it, it still baffled him that it happened. Though angry of the incident, Aro would remember that Dante was good at stealing things. Weeks after St. Marcus day, Aro and Caius finally let up on Amadora and Dante, but they were still to be watched every hour on the hour by someone. Around the end of May, Volterra was finally starting to get back to its normal smoldering and humid weather. It was almost the time of year when tourist season was at its peak. Then when it was June, and there seemed to be more Americans and non-Italians in Volterra than the people that actually lived there.

Once Aro was calm from the events of St. Marcus day, he started thinking about children again. Even though Dante tended to be a problem, Amadora was, for the most part, a perfect little girl. After what happened, she became very to the letter about what she was told to do with the hopes of avoiding ever getting whipped again. He decided that Dante was really the only one who ever caused trouble, and Demetri had gotten a lot better about keeping Dante in line. Aro started to want more power that the children seemed to give him. Around June, Aro finally decided he wanted more. He took a day to look at his guards and try to decide who he wanted to use. Alec was definitely not an option given past products. The only other male vampires in his coven that had powers were him, Caius, Marcus, and Corin. Sulpicia and Athenadora would never allow Aro and Caius to sleep with other women even if it were simply to conceive and neither wanted to do such a thing anyway. Marcus felt the same way. So Aro decided to use Corin, him being the only vampire with a power left that was an option. Everyone was scattered about the castle doing their own thing while Aro and the others were in the main room.

"Sulpicia, my pet." Sulpicia stopped talking and hugged Aro around his neck and he hugged her back, bringing her closer to him in his lap.

"Yes, my love?"

"Would either you or Athenadora look for Corin and bring him to me? I need to talk to him about something." Sulpicia nodded with a smile, kissed him, then looked at Athenadora.

"Look for Corin would you?" Athenadora looked at Sulpicia from the book she was reading with Caius while sitting on the arm of his throne.

"Why the hell should I? He asked you." Sulpicia shook her head.

"He asked for one of us to. You're one of us. Go get him." Aro laughed under his breath and Caius was already losing his patience. Marcus stared off into the distance not acknowledging either of them talking.

"Your mate's the one who asked for him. You go get him." Caius closed the book and looked at Sulpicia.

"You get Corin. You're doing nothing but sitting on Aro's lap babbling like a child telling Santa what she wants for Christmas. What you're doing is nothing important." Aro gave Caius a stern look.

"And what of you two. You're reading a book. Which, by the way, you've both read at least seven times."

"It's a hell of a lot more productive than talking aimlessly about nothing." Finally, Renata, who'd been sitting near the thrones reading a book finally had enough, closed her book, and stood.

"I'll go get him, sir." They all looked at Renata and Aro smiled at her.

"Thank you Renata." Renata nodded her head respectfully and ran out of the main room to look for Corin. She found him in the library reading to himself. Corin didn't acknowledge Renata until she was standing next to his chair. He looked up from his book and looked annoyed.

"What?"

"Don't give me that tone. The book couldn't be that good." Corin responded with a straight, blank face.

"I was just at the part where Langdon and Vitoria were in the square and found the priest who's lungs were punctured."

"Who cares? That's not even the best part. Wait till they find the bad guy. That's one hell of a scene." Corin's voice when he responded was rude and sarcastic.

"Thanks for ruining it for me. I love it when you tell me how a book ends before I finish it."

"I didn't tell you how it ends. I just told you there's an awesome scene when they find and fight the bad guy."

"What did you want?" Renata smiled a little at the irritation in Corin's voice.

"Aro wants to talk to you." Normally, that fraise wouldn't be frightening. But lately, that fraise had meant only one thing.

"You can't be serious." Renata gave him a weird look.

"What? Aro wants you to do something, nothing out of the ordinary about that." Corin ignored her.

"He has enough of these kids. Two's pretty damn sufficient. Why is he making me do this?" Renata realized what he was thinking and didn't comment on it.

"Aro wants to talk to you. I suggest you get going now. The last thing you want is for him to be in a bad mood." With that, Renata ran off and was sure to avoid the main room. She went to the lobby and started pestering Sofia.

Corin sat in his chair a moment trying to prepare himself. He tried to think of an excuse. Anything that would get Aro to change his mind. Nothing he thought of came to mind. Finally, after sitting for two minutes trying to think of a good excuse, he gave up, put his book on the light stand, and left for the main room to talk to Aro. Thankfully, when he got there, he didn't appear to be upset over how long it took Corin to get there. He only spoke in his usual cocky and cheerful voice.

"I have a favor to ask of you Corin." Corin took a deep breath and tried not to react in any way.

"Yes sir?" Aro spoke again with excitement still in his voice.

"I thought it would be delightful to see the type of child you would produce." If Corin's heart was beating, it would have stopped. He already knew that's what he was going to ask, but it still bothered him to hear it. "And seeing as it's tourist season, you'll have a much wider selection to chose from. Try to find someone that won't cause too much trouble if you please. I'd rather not deal with another pain in the ass." Corin kept a straight face and nodded.

"As you wish sir."

"So start looking. The sooner the better." Corin nodded again and walked out of the main room and reluctantly went to the lobby to wait for sunset before going out. When the sun was almost down, Corin left the castle and started looking.

He wondered around aimlessly for the most part. A lot of people were still out or just starting their night. Corin figured he'd make this easy on himself and go to a local bar and find someone. He was sure to find a woman there. A drunk woman he was hoping. Inebriation meant little to no trouble as long as he avoided an angry drunk. But when he went to the local bars, most of them were only filled with men. He realized why when he saw the screen. They were all surrounding the bar TV watching a soccer game. Evidently it was sports night at all the bars.

With no luck at any of the bars, he tried going to a nightclub that was in the city. It was one of those nightclubs that thought they were a lot cooler than they really were and made people wait in line with a huge bouncer guarding the door. Thankfully, the club had a back door that was easy to break into, so he didn't have to bother intimidating the bouncer to get in. He could hear the music blasting a good mile away and it hurt his ears now that he was surrounded by all the loud music. Most of it was the really bad 90's dance music he hated so much. And as luck would have it, the DJ started playing a song by a band called Toybox. If there was anything he hated more than bad 90's dance music, it was bad 90's dance music with a really high pitched squeaky lead singer. Every time he heard Barbie Girl, it made him want to punch the person listening to it.

Being in a nightclub, it didn't take long to find a woman. The problem was trying to find one that wasn't drunk out of her mind yet or a smoker. He hated the smell of smoke. The last thing he wanted to do was taste it. It was bad enough he'd probably have to taste alcohol or whatever else these women were on. Corin looked through the building for a few minutes and settled on a girl who was sitting in the corner with her head resting on the bar and an empty martini glass in her hand. She had a bad tan that made her skin almost look orange and she had fake blonde hair with roots a blind man could see. And he saw, when she lifted her face, that she was wearing way too much makeup, even for a nightclub. But she had lovely brown eyes and a relatively pretty face underneath all the makeup. Corin walked over to her and tried his best to be alluring. First, he asked for her name.

"Dude, I'm too drunk to talk Italian." Corin kept smiling, even though her grammar was grinding his nerves already.

"English then?" She nodded.

"I can do English." Corin nodded and was sure to try and be charming. Her eyes seemed to sparkle when she saw him, so he was hoping this wouldn't be as hard as he thought.

"Are you not from around here?"

"No shit. I'm from L.A." L.A. Coring thought he should have figured as much. She looked disturbingly like a beach bunny wanna-be. "I can't speak any Italian. I'm here because it's my vacation time. But my husband's being a dick." Her whole sentence was slurred. No human would understand a word she was saying.

"Is your husband still here?" She shook her head.

"He went back to the hotel. He said he didn't feel like babysitting me. Well I say fuck him." Corin nodded his head awkwardly, already intensely disliking this woman. He tried to walk away wanting to give up on the woman and try someone else, but she grabbed onto his arm. "You know what I think?"

"Nothing?" She laughed at his remark, though he was sure she didn't get the joke.

"No stupid. How about you and I go somewhere and cheat on my bastard husband?" Corin gave the woman a surprised expression.

"Excuse me?" she kept giggling.

"Seriously. I'm in the mood." Corin was about to say no. But it was too easy. Aro wanted him to get a woman pregnant, fine. And he planned to put as little effort into it as possible.

"First off, are you on any contraceptives?" She looked at Corin confused.

"What?"

"Birth control you dumb bitch." He said it a little louder than he wanted, but the music was so loud, no one appeared to hear him. When she got it, she giggled again.

"Of course not, silly. My hubby wants a baby for some reason. We've been trying for a while." Then she looked around before looking back at Corin like she about to tell a big secret. "But you know what I've been doing? I'm a diaphragm user." Then she giggled like it was scandalous. A diaphragm. That would be a problem. If she had it on, it could be removed before hand, no problem.

"How shameful of you."

"I know! I'm terrible." Corin tried to keep his smile seductive as he took her by the wrist and pulled her with him through the club towards the exit. He took her out the back and threw her onto his back and started running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the castle.

He heard her admire the castle, but he ignored her. He didn't want to talk to her. The less interaction he had to have with this woman the better. He didn't bother checking in with Aro. He just went straight up to the room that had been used twice before and dropped her on the bed before closing the door. Corin really didn't want to do this, and the woman seemed all too eager to do it. After a few minutes, he finally swallowed his disdain for the situation and went to the woman and got the union over with. He was sure to get rid of her diaphragm before hand and she didn't even notice. She just went with it. When it was finally over, she was fast asleep. Corin hoped desperately that it took and left the room once he was dressed to let Aro know it was done.

"Excellent Corin. You did make sure she wasn't on anything but alcohol right?" Corin nodded. "Wonderful. I would hate for the baby to be harmed because of the mother. Anyway, keep an eye on her please Corin."

"I'd rather not if that's all right with you, sir." Aro looked at Corin a little surprised. This was the first time Corin had ever once contradicted him in any way.

"Please explain."

"Sir, I would rather not deal with her anymore than I already have. Afton and Alec never looked after the women they impregnated. I would like to do the same." Aro took a moment to think about it, then shrugged.

"Alright, if you wish. But remember that I expect you to take care of that baby when it's born. No handing it to anyone else to take care of. I'll allow you to use Sulpicia and Athenadora to take care of the mother, but it's all your responsibility once the child is born. Is that clear Corin?" Corin nodded.

"Crystal, sir." Aro had back his usual smile.

"Excellent." Then he looked at his mate and Athenadora. "Now that that's been handled, ladies, if you please." Sulpicia smiled at Aro and left his side to go to where the woman was. Athenadora followed, but not before giving Aro a dirty look for inconveniencing her and then at Caius for letting him do it.

Sulpicia and Athenadora stayed with the woman and checked to see if she was pregnant the next afternoon. Though she fought them the whole time. Sulpicia had to admit that she was impressed with her. No matter how many times they hit her or bones the broke, she never stopped fighting them. They had to break her legs as a last resort so she would stop running from her bed and try to escape. Athenadora simply couldn't believe there was a human that could still bare to run with four broken ribs and a broken jaw. Even when they broke both her legs, she was attempting to crawl her way out. Aro was impressed with her too. He wondered if this strength in her would lead to another power that was worthwhile. But for now, her determination was getting annoying. Aro feared that Sulpicia and Athenadora would end up killing her before the baby was even born.

Aro sent for drugs that would keep her sedated for the rest of the pregnancy without hurting the baby. Once she had those, she was so groggy that she didn't have to strength to fight anymore. Aro was once again impressed with her high immunity to the drugs he gave her, though he wondered if that might be something he should be concerned about. She started showing, like most, within the first few days. The baby was kicking within the first four days and kicking a lot.

Corin didn't go back to see her at first. Especially while the woman was having a tantrum. But once Aro started her on the drugs to sedate her, he started becoming curious. He was thankfully she got pregnant. That meant he never had to try again. But now that he knew a baby was coming and that it was really his, he felt overwhelmed. Not necessarily in a bad way, but that's what he felt. When he finally did come to see her, Sulpicia and Athenadora were both sitting next to her bed. Athenadora was staring forward, very clearly not listening to Sulpicia as she talked on and on and on. When Corin walked in, they both looked at him a little surprised. Athenadora was the one to talk to him.

"What brings you here?" Corin shrugged.

"I just wanted to see how everything's going."

"It's fine. It's nice to watch her without having to beat her every five minutes. It gets boring."

Corin nodded his head awkwardly once Athenadora wasn't looking anymore. Then he walked over to the bed where the woman was. He saw the little bump. The tell tale sign that she was pregnant. As he watched her, he saw her stomach move. It took him by surprise. When he saw that movement again, he finally rested his hand where it was happening. Then he felt it. He realized it was the baby kicking. He almost smiled.

"Are you planning to help us look after her?" Corin looked around at Athenadora and finally shook his head.

"I wasn't planning on it." Before another word was said, Corin ran out of the room and went to the library to be alone.

He was feeling happy while he read his book. He couldn't remember the last time he was ever that happy. For most of his vampire life, he was always deeply depressed. He never understood why until he asked Aro. Evidently Aro could hear your thoughts from when you were human as well as the thoughts you had while you were a vampire. According to what Aro found in Corin's thoughts, Corin had suffered a loss of family when he was human and had been clinically depressed by modern medicine standards ever since. But when he'd felt his child move, it gave him a feeling of real purpose, as if his empty life finally took on some real meaning. And he was happy for it.

He started visiting at least once every day after that. He didn't want to be around the mother, hence why he never stayed. He only wanted to check on his child. He never thought he'd ever have, let alone want, a baby. He wanted to make sure that his future baby was as healthy as possible. And every time he checked on the baby, everything seemed fine and the baby started becoming more and more active with each passing day.

Then, June 20th, Corin had dropped in to check on the baby like he normally did. But moments after he pressed his hand against her belly to feel the baby move, he smelled something like blood and water and a little of something else. He looked towards the smell and jumped back when he saw the water. She was going into labor. Athenadora and Sulpicia smelled it too and were on their feet under a second and already trying to get the baby. Corin left the room, not wanting to see the process. He didn't wait very long. Athenadora and Sulpicia never bothered with trying to get the baby born naturally. They just wanted to get the baby out so they could be rid of it and take care of the mother. Corin expected the cry of a baby when he heard it. He wasn't expecting to hear two babies crying. He couldn't believe it. Twins. Twins. As Corin was in his own little world, Athenadora came out with two babies in her arms, both wrapped in a blanket, one in pink, one in blue, and handed his two children to him.

"A boy and a girl. Now go to Aro and let him see them." Then she closed the door and went to the mother to join Sulpicia in drinking her blood.

Corin did as she said and started walking to the main room to show Aro his children. Corin looked at the two of them very closely as he walked slowly down the stairs. To the human eye, they would both look exactly the same. But they were distinctly different from each other in more ways than any human could see. His little girl had straight hair, as did her brother. But hers was thicker than his. His son had longer eyelashes than his sister and had bigger hands and feet than her. He weighed more than her too, though the difference was subtle. He weighed more than her by maybe a little over a gram. They both had the same face, but with subtle differences. The little girl had her mother's nose, though much paler compared to her mother's fake L.A. tan. She was still tanned skin because of Corin's skin when he'd been human, but she was paler. Her brother was the same skin tone, but he had Corin's nose. He was more masculine looking than his sister, even as a child. It took no time to notice the twins already growing.

When Corin reached the main room, Aro practically leaped from his throne, as he always seemed to do, to come and see the babies. His eyes were already sparkling at the thought of a new power being added to the coven. He was thrilled to death to see that there were now two. Dante and Amadora walked closer from the corner where they'd been playing cards together to see the babies. When they had their fill of looking, they left Corin's side and went back to their little card game. All the others, except for Aro, stayed where they were. Sulpicia and Athenadora came back around the same time Corin arrived.

"Twins. What a surprise. They're simply wonderful. I don't suppose we know what their power is, do we?" Corin shook his head.

"They haven't done anything odd." Then Aro looked at Sulpicia. She shook her head too.

"Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary." Aro made a slightly sad face. Caius went straight to mad.

"So you're telling me that Corin, our 'time wizard', produced nothing?" Corin sighed a little to himself when Caius used the nickname. It was a strange nickname that one of Aro's immortal children gave to him while they were alive. They used it to get his attention instead of his name, so it simply stuck. Corin hated being called, 'Time Wizard', but he tolerated. But only from Aro and Caius. He never tolerated the nickname from anyone else.

"Not necessarily true, Caius. Some vampires have a power that's situational. It's something specific, so they need to be under the right circumstances to use their power." Caius' grimace towards Aro didn't change.

"I won't to know what their power is now." Aro sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Caius. Why are you so mean?"

"You're the mind reader. You tell me." Aro raised his brow at the challenge and walked over to Caius and took his hand to read his thoughts.

"You don't like waiting, you want to know if their power makes them worth keeping and you'd rather know that now," Then Aro went silent a moment. "And when you were human, your wife left you for an Egyptian and you've been a nasty old shrew ever since." Caius took his hand away from Aro and kept glaring.

"I never had a wife when I was human." Aro shrugged.

"Of course not. No woman in her right mind wanted you." Caius glared while Athenadora fought a laugh. When Caius heard her giggle, he looked back at her and gave her the same grimace.

"Does your laughter imply that you agree with him, Athenadora?" She simply smiled and shrugged. Aro answered for her. An answer that earned a glare from her too.

"She's as much of a shrew as you are, Caius. No man in their right mind would want her either. I'm surprised you two have been together so long. Just when I think the two of you will finally kill each other over your pointless bickering, you surprise me and make up again." Then Aro looked at Corin and the twins again. "Well, Corin makes time stop. So naturally, unless the mother had a hidden power herself, their powers would have to do with time too."

"Genius, Aro." Aro ignored Caius' sarcasm and continued.

"So what's a possibility we could test?" No one answered. Not because they didn't know or have an idea. Most everybody didn't really care.

Several minutes passed and no one said a word. Amadora and Dante were talking to each other during their game, but nothing more than that. Finally, Aro lost his patience, sighed, and looked at Corin with a renewed, though not as enthused, smile.

"Oh well. I'm sure we'll know one of these days." Corin nodded his head and was about to walk out. "And one more thing." Corin turned back to look at Aro. "What are we calling them?" Corin was quiet a moment. After looking at his twins once more, he looked through his memory to find a name that he thought suited them. Finally, he decided.

"Octavia and Armando, Sir." Aro grinned a little wider.

"Powerful names, Corin. I like them." Corin simply nodded his head respectfully and turned again to go to the library where it was the most quiet.

The fire was ablaze and both Armando and Octavia were sleeping soundly. Corin placed the on the couch beside him while he read a book. As the evening when on, Corin looked up from his book and saw the fire go out. He left the couch to put the book away and was back at the fireplace to turn it on again. Once the fire was up again, Corin went back to the couch and took a seat. But when he sat down, the fire was suddenly out again. Corin looked at it for a moment and got up, about to start the fire again. But the fire was back before he even got there. Then it was gone, then it was back again. He heard the twins start saying strings of vowels to each other and looked around to see them both sitting up pointing at the fireplace as the fire went on and off over and over again.

Finally, after a good two minutes of the fireplace turning on and off, Corin took the twins in his arm and took them to the main room. Aro and Caius were still arguing over the twins conveniently enough while Marcus was the first one to see Corin and the twins come in and with his same look of indifference. When Aro and Caius were finally paying attention to Corin, he placed the twins down. He left for a moment to get a small tennis ball and threw it against the wall when he was in the spot he wanted to be.

"Corin, what are you doing?" Corin was silent until the ball he'd thrown finally came to a complete stop. When it did, he looked at Octavia.

"Octavia." Octavia looked at Corin attentively when he said her name. "Remember what you did to the fire?" She nodded. "Do it again to this ball." Octavia smiled at Corin and then looked at the ball. She concentrated on the ball and thought about the previous action. As she thought about it, the ball started moving in the opposite direction that it'd originally gone. Caius and Aro both looked at Octavia with admiration. Aro put that admiration into words.

"She can undo actions." Then he looked at Aro looked at Armando. "Now we know what your sister does. What do you do?" Armando looked intimidated by Aro, but Octavia cooed to him, evidently trying to encourage him. He finally breathed, then thought about what the ball had originally done, making the ball move the other way.

"Impressive." Caius said with a little excitement in his voice. "But can they only do such with inanimate objects?" Corin shrugged.

"I don't know if the power would work on any of us, but they were able to manipulate the fire in the fireplace. So maybe their power could still affect us, but indirectly." Caius thought about the statement.

"So if one of us were on fire, they could manipulate the fire and save our life?" Corin nodded.

"I think so, sir." Aro smiled and clapped his hands.

"Exceptional, Corin. I knew we could rely on you to make something good. Now we have four new powers in the Volturi Guard. Truly exceptional." Armando and Octavia weren't really listening to what was happening. They were entertaining themselves with the little tennis ball. Caius looked at Aro with a critical look.

"Does this mean no more of these half-breeds of yours or are you planning to make one of us do it?" Aro chuckled.

"I would never dream of it, Caius. I would never do such a thing to my sweet Sulpicia." Sulpicia smiled at Aro and ran over to hug him. Though she hid it well, Chelsea couldn't help but glare at Aro for daring to let Afton do that to her. Afton had the same feeling, but he didn't let it show on his face. He was mad about it, but not as much as Chelsea. "And honestly, Caius, you have no power. What could you possibly give us?"

"Certainly not me. Perhaps Marcus. He has a power." Marcus, to all's surprise, looked at Caius. And looked at him with an expression he'd never given him to his face before. It was a look that questioned Caius' sanity. "So you do have expressions."

"Of course we wouldn't use Marcus. Anything he might make wouldn't be anything that we could use." Caius shrugged.

"I don't know about that. Marcus can feel the relationship of others. Maybe a child of his could force people to feel a certain way he wants them to." Aro shook his head.

"A cute gift, but hardly something we could use. If Chelsea's power couldn't work on any of the Cullens, I doubt that will be any different. They have Bella, remember. The children we have now all seem to have physical powers, meaning Bella can't do a thing against them."

"Does this mean you're planning to attack the Cullens again, Aro?" Aro shrugged.

"They're bound to do something wrong eventually. All we need to do is wait for it. And when they do, no matter how many years, decades, or even centuries, that we have to wait, we'll be ready to take out everyone who isn't useful to us. All we really need to do is swear to harm the other's mate and they'll cooperate with us." Caius grinned a little at the thought.

"One day. It better happen." Aro nodded.

"Just be patient Caius. It will happen. It will."


	5. Lia

**Lia**

Once the twins were born, Aro was greatly entertained with their powers. He would test them by breaking things all over the castle and having them fix it. But it wasn't long before Aro was bored with it. Octavia and Armando stayed close to Corin most of the time. He hardly really spoke to them. He would just watch them and smile whenever they did something interesting or figured out how to do something on their own. And when Octavia learned how to talk, she did it all the time. Armando learned to talk the same time Octavia did. He simply didn't talk for four days after that because he couldn't seem to get a word in edgewise. Same thing with Corin. Corin and Armando would simply sit and listen to Octavia talk on and on and on until she would eventually get tired and stop.

It was a long time before Dante and Amadora really accepted Octavia and Armando into their little group. Partially because Armando followed Octavia wherever she went and Octavia never shut up. Jane, on her last nerve, was the one to finally tell her she needed to learn how to be quiet. Octavia talked a little less after that and also put forth a lot of effort to stay away from Jane. Once Dante and Amadora officially let them play with them, Octavia and Armando spent all their time with them. Octavia always felt like Corin was ignoring her whenever she spoke. Truth be told, Corin was simply sitting really still. It was just something vampires did.

Though Armando was a nice kid, he would sometimes get on Dante's nerves. He was always really cautious and reminding everyone that they'd all get in trouble if they did whatever Dante wanted to do. He was kind of like Chucky from RugRats. And Octavia was a significantly less annoying version of Angelica. She still talked way too much, but at least she wasn't a spoiled rotten self-obsessed bitch.

"Dante." Dante sighed and looked at Armando.

"What, Armando?"

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather not tempt Aro. He creeps me out." Dante shrugged.

"He's not as scary as he makes himself out to be. As long as you have the balls to stand up to him, he's all bark and no bite."

"Why chance it?" Dante rolled his eyes and picked the lock to the basement and walked in. Amadora and Octavia followed. Armando stayed behind for a moment, but followed after Octavia when he saw her start to follow Dante.

"Stop being such a coward, Armando."

"I'm not a coward, Dante. I'm rational."

"Only the weak are cautious." Armando nodded.

"And the strong always die." Dante rolled his eyes and stopped talking to Armando. Armando dropped the subject and stayed quiet. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Dante looked around the large basement and looked at something interesting to play with. His eyes locked on the guillotine and smiled.

"I think I know what we should do." They all stared at the guillotine that Dante was staring at and Armando looked at Dante wide eyed. Octavia was the one to talk.

"Are you insane?! That thing's dangerous!" Dante shrugged.

"It's only dangerous if one of us is under the blade. Otherwise, it's just a really big toy." Amadora spoke next.

"Dante, that isn't a toy! It's a weapon used for execution!" Dante shrugged.

"I know. So what should we execute first?"

"There's nothing to execute." Dante shook his head at Amadora and started looking around the basement again for something good. Then he saw something in the corner that was covered by a large blue velvet cloth.

"Let's see what's under the cloth." Before anyone answered, Dante ran over to the large thing covered with the velvet blue and did his best to pull it off. When he did, it revealed a large selection of antique looking china dolls. They each had porcelain faces and were all dressed in a variety of royal outfits. They were inside a large glass case that held them each up standing tall with pride. "Jackpot."

"Dante, are you sure we should use those?" Dante shook his head at Amadora.

"I never am. But they'll certainly do for the guillotine. They resemble French Royalty perfectly." Then Dante found the lock to the glass casket, picked it, and opened the doors as easily as he would any other door.

Then he took out an armful of dolls of all dresses and names and handed one to each person. Then he ran back over to the guillotine, being sure to grab a manikin that was in the basement on the way there. He placed the manikin under the blade and brought it up to check it. Then he released the blade and it went straight through the neck of the manikin.

"The guillotine. She works." Then Dante looked at Amadora. "Bring forth our oppressors." Amadora stood still a moment until she realized Dante was talking to her. Then she walked a little closer to him holding her doll. It was a brunette doll with blue eyes, a purple dress, and elaborate big hair. "The Bareness Di' Sharbough. You are charged with the oppression and cruel mistreating of our good people of the Republic of France. How do you plea?" Amadora was silent again for a moment before she lifted up the doll to cover her face.

"Guilty?" Dante smiled.

"Guilty. From her own lips. Now place the prisoner on the table and ready her for her fate." Amadora pushed aside the manikin's body while Dante lifted the blade. Then Amadora placed the doll's head in the little hole where the blade would drop. When Amadora had her strapped in, Dante freed the blade and it fell on the doll, taking her head clean off. Then Amadora spoke.

"I feel like I know this from somewhere." Dante nodded.

"Adams Family Values. The only difference is we're beheading dolls instead of Pubert." Amadora giggled.

"I love that movie."

"That and I think that the French Revolution is an entertaining time in history. You've got to love the French. They couldn't win a war, even against themselves." Everyone, even Armando, laughed under their breath. Octavia spoke next.

"They're the only ones able to accomplish that." Dante laughed, then looked at Armando.

"Enough joking. Bring forth our next victim." Armando looked at the doll before walking tentatively forward. This doll was a little Asian princess doll with an elaborate dress and big hair, just like the other doll.

"Her she is." Dante nodded his head towards the guillotine. Armando placed the doll in the hole that would decapitate it.

"Princess Shao Ling. Accomplice to the former king and queen of France. She's been found guilty of her treachery, a traitor deserving of death." Then Dante let go of the rope holding the blade, and the blade fell and beheaded the China doll.

"Who's Shao Ling?" Dante looked at Amadora and shrugged.

"I just made it up." Then Dante looked at Octavia. "Now bring forth our final traitor. Marie Antoinette." Octavia walked over holding the doll with a pink dress and an enormous platinum blonde wig with feathers and tiny pearls and a small bird. "Marie Antoinette, you are charged with defiling the face of France and putting our good country to shame. Your love of fashion and need for a new dress daily put this country in poverty and you expect us to scrounge for food while you live in the lap of luxury in you large palace at Versailles, so far away from the townspeople and our problems." Octavia interrupted a moment.

"She put France in poverty by buying dresses?" Dante sighed.

"Octavia, never interrupt me while I'm interrogating a prisoner."

"Just answer the question Dante. It's a doll, she's not going anywhere." Dante looked at Octavia a moment before answering.

"Yes, she did. She never wore the same dress twice. She had new dresses delivered to her weekly if I remember correctly. She had a dress for every day of the year. At least that's what dad told me."

"What a bitch." Dante smiled.

"I know, right." Then Dante cleared his throat. "Anyway, have you anything to say in your defense, former queen of France, Marie Antoinette of Austria?" Octavia held the doll in front of her face and spoke for the doll.

"Oh please, executioner. I'm too important to die." Dante laughed cruelly.

"Nonsense foolish woman. You're a descries and a scar on the face of France."

"Oh please, executioner, please reconsider."

"I shan't. Place the prisoner on the table and prepare her for madam guillotine." While Octavia started getting the doll ready, Demetri, Afton, and Corin were searching the castle trying to find them. When Demetri saw the basement door open, he could feel a headache coming on.

"Please tell me one of you undid this lock." Afton shook his head.

"Wasn't me. Corin and I were in the main room the whole time."

Demetri sighed, knowing the worst was coming, and started walking down the stairs. Afton and Corin followed after. Demetri already heard Dante's voice talking about executing Marie Antoinette. When they were halfway down the stairs, they saw a doll that Dante was getting ready to behead, and they all could swear they felt a heart attack come on. Demetri ran over to Dante and the others and had stopped the blade from falling in just enough time. Afton and Corin ran over and went to their own kids. Demetri looked at the damage and had to fight to keep from shaking.

"Hey dad." Demetri took a deep breath hoping it would help. It didn't.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dante shrugged innocently.

"Playing French Revolution." Afton spoke next.

"With Sulpicia's dolls?!" Dante looked over at Afton and still looked innocent.

"They were Sulpicia's?" They all nodded. Demetri breathed and looked at Armando.

"Octavia, undo all this before…" Before Demetri could finish his sentence, he heard Heidi, Renata, Jane, and Chelsea walk down the stairs and he could almost feel their jaws dropping.

"Oh my god." Jane said quietly. Then she immediately started running upstairs and to the main room. Chelsea and Heidi started walking down the steps while Renata stayed put, still paralyzed with horrified shock.

"Dante." Dante backed away a little from Heidi.

"Yeah Heidi."

"These are Sulpicia's dolls." Dante nodded. "They're worth a fortune. They were discontinued in 1821. They're made of porcelain and real human hair and silk dresses and really jewelry. By now, some of them are worth more than a house."

After Heidi spoke, they all heard someone start screaming. Demetri rested his head against the guillotine hoping that maybe it would make his headache go away. He knew what was coming. The others backed away from Dante except Demetri and Heidi. Sulpicia started running from the main room to the basement within a second and her eyes bugged out when she saw the condition of her priceless dolls. Athenadora got there shortly after with Aro and Caius following closely behind. Her eyes widened.

"Damn." It was only one word from Athenadora, but it was enough to make Sulpicia blow a fuse.

"Damn?! That's all you can think to say?!" Athenadora backed away a little.

"Don't yell at me. I'm not the one who decapitated them." Sulpicia then glared directly at Dante. Caius and Aro were now standing far away from her. It wasn't often that Sulpicia ever got mad, but when she did, it was best to stay clear of her. Aro learned a long time ago never to upset his dear wife. Even the strongest of the Volturi were scared of Sulpicia when she was mad.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you have any idea what you've done?! Those dolls are priceless antiques!" Dante stood his ground and shrugged.

"Sorry. Just let Octavia undo it, no harm done." Sulpicia's red eyes seemed to glow.

"No harm done? No harm done?! There was plenty of harm done! You destroyed my priceless dolls."

"They're just dolls, Sulpicia. No need to get upset." Having had enough, Sulpicia slapped Dante across the face and sent him flying across the floor, hitting the glass cage holding Sulpicia's dolls, and making the whole thing topple over, destroying the container and the dolls.

"Now look what you did! You broke the rest of my dolls!" Then Sulpicia glared at Octavia, who was now trembling in fear. "Undo all this. Now!!!" Octavia nodded her head and imagined all the damage done to the dolls and undid it. Within seconds, all the dolls and the glass cage were back together as if nothing happened. Once they were all fixed, Sulpicia gathered all her dolls and brought them over to the glass cage and put her dolls away again. When they were put away, she looked at Dante. "If you ever touch my dolls again, mark my words, I won't let you get away with just a slap."

Dante was passed out on the ground. Demetri walked over to him to check if he was okay. Dante's jaw had broken, but it was almost done healing. Thankfully, it was healing properly so he wouldn't have to break the bone again. When Demetri saw that Dante was okay, he took a deep breath of relief and picked him up into his arms and started walking to the kids' room. Afton grabbed Amadora by the hand and pulled her with him behind Demetri. Corin took Octavia and Armando into his arms and walked behind Afton, not saying a word.

Once they were all in their room, Demetri and the others left them in their room, confident that they didn't need to be punished any further than they already had been watching Dante get slapped hard enough to break his jaw and knock him out. Demetri stayed at the other side of the door to the kids' room waiting for Dante to regain consciousness. Heidi stayed with him and waited too.

"Dante's going to be okay, right, Demetri?"

"He'll be alright. His head will be pounding for a few days, but he'll be fine. His jaw's already healed and it's healing properly, so there's nothing to worry about there." Heidi sighed a little.

"As long as he never does anything like that again, I'm happy. I don't know why he insists on getting himself into trouble. It's not like he doesn't know better." Demetri shook his head.

"He knows better. I think he just wants to prove something." Heidi looked at Demetri with a confused look.

"What are you talking about? What would he want to prove?" Demetri shrugged.

"That he's his own person and that he isn't scared of Aro and Caius. He's a free spirit. I can only assume he got that from his mother. He simply refuses to be controlled, plain and simple." Demetri laughed a little to himself. "I have to admit, I envy him. He's so strong willed and is willing to go to great lengths to prove he won't be controlled. He's braver than me, that's for sure." Heidi shook her head.

"He's a brave boy, Demetri. But you're no coward." Demetri shook his head.

"I am, Heidi. Look at me. I'm allowing another person punish my son and letting everyone treat him like an inferior while I do no better than all the others."

"You underestimate yourself, Demetri. You're a wonderful father." Demetri didn't respond. He just stayed quiet and looked forward blankly, or as blankly as a vampire could accomplish. Heidi wanted to say more, but she knew when Demetri was in a mood to not budge. He seemed to be in that mood every since Dante was a little boy.

Several hours later, Dante started twitching and Amadora ran over to his side and started pushing him gently from side to side hoping to wake him up. Dante groaned a little and finally opened his eyes. When he did, he saw Octavia, Armando, and Amadora surrounding him, Amadora smiling widely.

"You should be dead after a hit like that you know." Dante chuckled weakly from Amadora's comment.

"It takes a lot more than a slap to keep me down." Armando spoke next.

"That was hardly a slap, Dante. That was a punch from a pissed off vampire." Dante smirked arrogantly, just to annoy Armando.

"It's no problem." Armando looked at Dante for a moment before he sighed and walked back to his own bed. Octavia smiled at Dante, then went back to Armando and started talking to him about nothing important. Amadora stayed next to Dante and gave him a lecturing smile.

"You know, Dante, if anything happens to you, Armando and Octavia will be my only playmates. That doesn't bode well with me." Dante smiled and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Amadora. I'll be more careful next time." Amadora smiled a little more sweetly.

"That's all I ask, Dante. That's all I ask."

Out of Amadora's request, Dante stayed out of trouble. They'd become very close since they first met, so if she ever asked him nicely for something, he was always more than happy to do it for her. With Dante being a lot more cooperative with Aro and Caius, Aro started playing with the idea of having yet another. The only issue was that there weren't any more vampires in his coven that had gifts with the exception of him and Marcus. One day, while sitting in the throne room, Sulpicia was talking to Aro, but Aro wasn't listening to her at the moment. He was contemplating a great plan. After plenty of time thinking over his plan, he looked over at Marcus, but then looked at Sulpicia.

"My darling, would you mind if Caius and I spoke to Marcus alone for a moment?" Sulpicia smiled sweetly and kissed Aro's cheek.

"Of course, Aro." Sulpicia looked at Athenadora, who then looked back at Caius. Caius sighed.

"You heard him, Athenadora. Leave with Sulpicia."

"I don't think so. I'd like to be involved in the decision making of this coven." Caius gave Athenadora a cold look.

"The man said leave Athenadora. Leave while I still have patience." Athenadora rolled her eyes and got off the arm of his chair and started walking out with Sulpicia.

"You talk like you had patience to begin with." Then Athenadora left the main room with Sulpicia, leaving Caius with an angry pout. Aro chuckled and looked at Marcus.

"Now that they're gone, Marcus, there's something I want to talk to you about." Marcus immediately knew what Aro wanted to talk about Marcus grabbed onto his hand for only an instant.

"_I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is no. I won't degrade myself to a stud for your little collection Aro. I suggest you either do it yourself or let it go because I most certainly will not do it."_ Aro looked at Marcus wide eyed after he released Aro's arm and Marcus looked forward again in indifference.

"You dare go against my wishes?" Marcus didn't say a thing. He simply kept looking forward ignoring Aro. Caius then started glaring at Aro.

"You can't possibly want to have another half breed. We already have one from each of our most powerful guards. And we know anything we get from Alec would end in disaster. I know you don't plan to make your own and I can tell Marcus doesn't want to. So what exactly do you plan to do?" Aro sighed a bit.

"I don't know, Caius. I was kind of relying on Marcus to agree, and obviously, he's refused." Caius became annoyed.

"Why would you want another anyway? Dante has been nothing but a thorn in our side. I don't think we should keep him." Aro held up a finger.

"Dante is another matter." Aro was silent a moment in thoughtfulness before he finally spoke again. "How about this, Caius? You say that you don't find Dante to be valuable to us, as well as Octavia and Armando seeing as they can only control inanimate objects, am I right?" Caius nodded.

"Does this mean you'll kill them?" Aro looked thoughtful again for a moment.

"I'll tell you what, Caius. I want to try again. Maybe with Felix."

"Why? He has no special power." Aro shrugged.

"True. But it's worth the try. He's the only male in the coven aside from us that hasn't tried it. Let's have him get a girl knocked up and see what we get, just for the hell of it. And if the baby is useless, we'll rid ourselves of it as well as Dante and the others."

"Except for Amadora. Her shield is valuable to us." Aro nodded.

"Of course. We'll keep the ones useful to us and only them. Is that something you're comfortable with Caius?" Caius grinned a little and nodded.

"We're finally on the same page, Aro." After Caius spoke, Marcus grabbed Aro's hand again.

"_Aro, what you are about to do is mad. I told you that something bad would happen if you kept this up. You're pushing you luck with these half breed children. It's not just them that can be disobedient, Aro."_ Aro looked at Marcus again after hearing that thought. He held back a laugh. It was the dumbest idea Marcus had ever presented.

"What did he tell you Aro?" Aro looked at Caius with a held back laugh.

"He thinks those children might rebel against us and that they wouldn't be alone if they did." Caius chuckled.

"He still thinks that? What could those children possibly do to us?"

"Absolutely nothing my friend." Aro and Caius started laughing while Marcus sat there in thoughtfulness, though still appearing indifferent about what was going on.

Aro and Caius couldn't be farther from the truth. They were under the impression that the guards shared no affection for their children whatsoever. That simply wasn't true. Each guard that had a child cared for them with all their hearts. They simply weren't good at showing it, or in Afton's case, he didn't want to stand up to Chelsea. He would be at risk for upsetting and losing her if he dared choose Amadora over her. Though Marcus had the feeling that it wouldn't be long before that happened anyway, one way or another. Demetri would do anything for Dante. He'd simply been alone for so long and was so naturally shy that being a father seemed impossible to him. Corin was simply silent by nature. All the children loved their parents dearly. They simply were under the impression their parents didn't love them.

But if Marcus was right and those children later decided to turn on them, they would certainly not be alone. Their parents would take their side over Caius and Marcus any day. If Aro couldn't see that even with his mind reading, then his cockiness really had gotten the best of him. Marcus didn't expect Caius to see it. He simply refused to think that it was possible for the Volturi to be beaten and would not listen to anything telling him otherwise.

Dante heard the whole conversation. He always knew that Aro and Caius hated him. It even crossed his mind that they would want to kill him. But not the others. From the looks of things now, Amadora was the only one of them that had a shot at living because of her shield. The rest of them were doomed. Caius and Aro didn't see a need for Demetri's shield or for Octavia and Armando's control of time. Not when their father could stop time all together. As soon as they were done talking, Dante ran away from the entrance of the main room where he'd been hiding and ran back to the room where Octavia and Armando were playing chess. Amadora was lying in her bed reading a book. When Dante came in and looked panicky, Amadora closed her book and stood up looking at him with concern.

"Dante, what's the matter?" Octavia and Armando looked at Dante waiting to hear what he would say.

"They're going to kill us." All their eyes widened. Amadora tried to stay calm.

"What are you talking about?"

"Aro and Caius. Aro wants to make another half breed child. But if this one doesn't please Caius, then he'll kill us all except Amadora." Octavia stood and glared at Amadora.

"Why do you get to live? What makes you so special?" Amadora backed away defensively and Dante ran in front of her.

"She's a physical shield. And an invisible shield. That's something Caius considers useful."

"That's hardly fair! Why should we have to die? Especially when you're the one that's always causing trouble, Dante?" Amadora took a spot to Dante's right and glared at Octavia.

"Dante doesn't deserve to die for being a normal boy." Dante interrupted all of them.

"It doesn't matter. I don't plan on staying." They all looked at Dante like he was speaking Yiddish.

"What did you just say?"

"You heard me. I'm not going to wait around for Aro to kill us. I say we leave. I'm going with or without you guys." Amadora grabbed onto Dante's arm and shook her head.

"Don't be so hasty. Let's wait a little longer."

"Why?!"

"Because. It would be cruel to leave the newborn here. Let's wait for that baby to be born. Then we'll run." Dante and Amadora looked at each other a moment before Dante breathed and calmed down.

"Alright. That's a better plan." Amadora nodded.

"Yes it is." Dante looked away for a moment with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I'll need to start planning now, though."

"That's a good idea."

Shortly after Aro and Caius finished talking, he got up from his throne and looked for Felix. He encountered Sulpicia in the library and took her with him as he went to the lobby where Felix most likely was. Demetri, Heidi, and Felix were sitting together watching a movie on HBO. When they smelled Aro, they all immediately stood to attention ready for his orders. Aro looked at Heidi with a smile.

"I believe it's time we had a nice meal." Heidi bowed her head.

"Yes sir." Then Heidi ran out the door to look for victims. When she was gone, Aro looked at Felix.

"Felix."

"Yes sir?"

"I have a favor to ask of you. When Heidi gets back, pick a girl from the crowd that you like and get her pregnant." Felix stiffened and it took all his strength not to widen his eyes.

"I have no special power, sir. I don't know what I could give you that would be any good."

"Nonsense, Felix. I don't doubt you'll give me something remarkable." Before another word was said, Aro walked away with Sulpicia clinging to his arm back to the throne room. When they were gone, Felix stood where he was motionless. Demetri stayed next to him for ten minutes in silence before saying anything.

"Not so funny is it?"

"I can't believe this. What good would I do? The kid would probably be born normal. No special gift or anything. I thought he was done."

"That's what I thought."

Demetri and Felix were standing where they were for several minutes and didn't move from where they were until they saw a large crowd of people walking through the castle towards the main room. Felix took a deep, useless, breath hoping to calm himself. It wasn't the sex part he was scared of. It was the getting the woman pregnant part. He'd never thought about kids, so whether or not he wanted one wasn't even clear to him. Then, finally, Felix let out that breath and started following the humans to the main room with Demetri following close by. Demetri called up the stairs for Dante and the others to come to the main room to get their share.

Once everyone in the castle except Sofia was in the main room, Dante and Amadora closed the large doors and got ready to attack when they were given permission. As Aro ordered, Felix looked through the crowd of people trying to find someone there that he found attractive. He was immediately drawn to a woman with tan skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. She had a thin face that was demure and sweet. It seemed nostalgic to him.

"I'll take her, Aro." Felix pointed at the woman he spoke of and she looked around at Felix with a shocked expression.

"Take me for what? What's going on here? I thought this was a tour group." She spoke fluent Italian, so she was from the country. Judging from her accent, Felix guessed she was from Rome or somewhere near there. Aro chuckled.

"Wise choice. She's a beauty. No one is to touch that woman, is this clear?" Everyone nodded their heads and proceeded as soon as Aro gave permission to start. When they were all done, the only human left standing was the woman chosen by Felix. "Now that we've fed, take her to the tower room Felix. Get it done and you're to keep going until she's pregnant." Felix nodded his head obediently even though he wasn't fond of the idea.

The woman tried to fight and was screaming the whole time Felix was pulling her with him to the tower. Felix never reacted to any of her attempts at punching him nor did he say a word to her while she was screaming at him to tell her what was going on and demanding he let her go. When they finally reached the room in the tower, Felix pulled her in and closed the door, being sure to lock it. Unlike most that had come here, she was unwilling and fully aware. She looked terrified, rightly so. She had just witness forty people get drank alive before her eyes and now she was stuck in a locked room with one of the monsters that were responsible.

"What do you want with me?" She asked Felix in a voice that was terrified and trembling. Felix decided to take the easiest way through the situation. After she asked her question, Felix ran over to her and pinched between her shoulder and neck, making her pass out instantly. Before she hit the ground, Felix took a hold of her and picked her up into his arms to the bed.

Felix proceeded without any trouble. She was a beautiful woman, so he didn't need to force himself to do anything. He just went about what he would if this were a mutual act like those he'd had in the past. When he was done, she began to stir, but it was subtle. Felix decided to stay with her and make sure she was pregnant before he wondered away again. When she finally woke up, she woke up looking like she was about to scream, but Felix wouldn't allow it. Whenever she tried to scream, Felix would take a hold of her jaw and tell her to stay quiet. He repeated this process a few times before she finally stayed quiet.

Several hours passed and she neither tried to scream or said a word to Felix. She started spending most of her time just looking at the wall. After a while, she focused on Felix himself. When she was really paying attention to him instead of struggling, she realized Felix was a handsome man. He had a masculine face that any woman would turn into a puddle of water at the sight of. She could tell he had dark brown hair, but it was cut so short. It seemed to add to his masculinity. She couldn't think of any other word to describe him than perfection. She stopped looking at him. She didn't want to have positive thoughts about him.

They sat in their spots not saying a word. She found it bizarre how Felix seemed to be sitting perfectly still, never flinching even once while she was entwining her fingers and fidgeting all the time. Late in the afternoon, the day after she came to the castle, Felix finally moved. He stood from his chair and walked to her to take her hand and pull her out of bed.

"What are you doing?" She said with a little panic. Felix remained calm.

"There's a pregnancy test in the bathroom I need you to take." Her eyes widened when she heard him say that.

"What?"

"I need you to take a pregnancy test. If you're not pregnant, I'll try again and so on until you're pregnant."

"What the hell's wrong with you?! I don't want to get pregnant." Felix shrugged.

"You don't really have a choice in the matter. Unless you'd like to tell me you can't get pregnant. But I wouldn't recommend telling me that unless it's true. Otherwise, I'll just have to kill you." Her eyes widened and she tried to pull herself away, but she couldn't.

"What? Why, what did I ever do to you? Why are you doing this?" Felix sighed. He was already losing his patience.

"Look. I have no say in what goes on or what I'm ordered to do. If you have a complaint about all this, take it up with someone who gives a crap."

"You're telling me that I'm most likely going to die and all you have to tell me is to take it up with someone who cares? How dare you?"

"I told you, I don't have much of a say in what happens to you. And frankly, talking to Aro about this won't do you any good at all. If anything, you'll just make him angrier and make things harder on yourself. Now take the damn test and get it over with. With any luck, that will be the end of it."

"You raped me! Where do you get off telling me what to do?" Felix held up his hand like he was about to hit her and she flinched and closed her eyes. When a moment passed and nothing happened, she looked back up at him with terrified eyes. He took his hand down again and looked at her sternly.

"That was a warning. I don't think hitting you is needed or appropriate. Know that I've never believed in abusing a woman. But if you keep pushing me, I'll start hitting you, and I don't want to do that. So make this easier for all involved and just cooperate." After staring at his handsome face for a few seconds, she looked away and nodded her head. "Thank you. Now come on. Let's get this over with."

Felix pulled her with him to where the bathroom was and she followed this time without any fight. When they got to where Felix wanted to take her, he let go of her and was about to close the door.

"The directions are on the box if you need them. Let me know what the results are as soon as it says."

"But if you think I'm pregnant, it's too soon to tell. I would have only just got pregnant." Felix nodded.

"Normally that would be the case, yes. But this is different. I'm not human. The process is faster because of that. Let me know when it shows the results." Then Felix closed the door and left her alone.

She stared at the door for a few minutes trying to process what he'd just heard. He said he wasn't human. What did that mean? She noticed his hand was hard and cold, but at the time, she was in such a panic that she didn't acknowledge it. Now it was all she could think about. What had she gotten herself into? What was happening that made her decide she was never leaving Rome again if she lived through this?

When everything processed in her mind, she looked at the counter and saw an unopened First Response test that was waiting for her. She felt like it was taunting her. She tried not to think about it and took the pregnancy test, trying not to think. There was no way she was pregnant. There was just no way. She wasn't seeing anyone and even if that man had raped her, she simply couldn't already be pregnant. It was simply impossible. That was what she was thinking the whole time she waited for the results. She wasn't looking at it. She was scared to. She sat on the floor and waited. She didn't get up until there was a knock on the door.

"What did it say?" She heard the man's name on the other side of the door and she came to her feet when she heard him.

"I'll check right now." Then, reluctantly, she looked at the test and her eyes widened in horror. It was positive. That couldn't be right. There was just no way. Her heart started racing and her breathing got erratic.

"Is it positive?" He said on the other side of the door. All she did was nod, never taking her eyes off the test. "I said, is it positive?" Then he let himself in and looked where it was. When he saw the results for himself, he sighed.

"How is this possible?"

"I told you, I'm not human. This pregnancy will go by a lot faster. It'll all be over in two weeks." She finally looked at him again, and he looked back.

"What are you?"

"A vampire." That was all he said. Then he left the room and never came back. When she left the bathroom, there were two women she remembered seeing the day before. They were ruthless when they were killing those people. She tried to retreat back into the bathroom, but one of them stopped her from closing the door.

"Felix tells us you're pregnant." She trembled at the look in this woman's eyes.

"Who?"

"Felix. He's the one who was here earlier. Now come one. We need to get you on a blood diet."

"A what?"

"A blood diet. Vampires need blood to live." Without another word, Athenadora grabbed the girl and pulled her out of the bathroom and gave her a pint of blood that she was appalled to realize she enjoyed.

After Felix told Aro, he left and didn't want to see the woman again. He just didn't feel right about it. He went to the lobby where the TV was and watched a movie with the kids. They were watching Silence of the Lambs, so he didn't have to change the channel. He didn't talk to them, they just watched the movie. Later, Demetri came to Felix and sat on a free part of the couch.

"So it took?" Felix nodded.

"It looks like it."

"Are you planning to check on her later?" Felix shook his head.

"No. I feel weird about it." Before talking again, Demetri looked at Dante and told him to give him and Felix some privacy. Dante did as he was told and took everyone away and to their rooms to do something else.

"I hate to tell you Felix, but you feel weird because you feel guilty." Felix gave Demetri a strange stare.

"Well no shit. Did you figure that out all by yourself?" Demetri breathed before he spoke again.

"I know you're not usually like this, so I'll ignore that." Felix groaned and rubbed his face.

"I'm sorry I ever said anything mean to you when you were about to have Dante."

"Good. I was hoping you'd understand us all now that you were in the same position." Felix didn't respond. He kept his eyes on the movie and let his mind wonder. "Felix."

"What?"

"Try not to worry about it." Felix laughed without humor.

"You're one to talk. All you ever do is worry." Demetri sighed to himself and looked away.

"I know. I can't help it. I feel like I haven't been doing everything I should be, you know?" Felix laughed again.

"Heidi's right." Demetri looked at Felix again.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're delusional. That boy worships the ground you walk on. I can't believe you don't realize it."

"No he doesn't. He's terrified of me and I don't like it."

"Aren't kids supposed to fear their parents?" Demetri shook his head.

"Kids are supposed to respect their parents and the boundaries they've set for them. Dante's scared of me. I think I'm the only one in this coven that he's really scared of." Felix shook his head.

"You're the only one that he respects. And if my observations are right, he's starting to like Heidi too."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"What do you think? I've been saying this to you for centuries. Just admit you love her."

"I never tried to deny that."

"Yes, but you never said it to her. Believe me, she loves you too. I don't know what makes you think she doesn't, but she does. Hell, ask Dante. He just turned three and even he figured it out."

"You're trying to change the topic, Felix. It's not working." Felix shook his head.

"I'm not changing the subject, I'm stating the obvious. But thank you for your advice, Demetri. I'll do what I can. So take my advice in return. Stop being a saint and tell her. And go ahead and ask Dante about it and prove my point. I won't even get mad if you end up taking my advice when it was given to you by a kid. As I recall, you said you were going to work up the courage to tell her. You said that last year."

"I will. I just need to do it in my own time." Felix nodded.

"Sure, Demetri. Take your time. And you can kick your own ass when someone else who isn't scared to tell he loves her comes along." Felix left then and gave Demetri his own time to think. When he was alone, Demetri groaned to himself and rubbed his face. Dante came back to the lobby then and saw Demetri.

"Dad?" Demetri looked at Dante.

"Yeah?"

"You look upset." Demetri shook his head and stood from the couch.

"I'm not. It's nothing." Dante kept looking at Demetri, not believing him.

"You can tell me, you know." Demetri and Dante looked at each other a few moments before Demetri sighed and sat back down on the couch. Dante walked over and took a seat next to him.

"I was talking to Felix about this whole thing. And he managed to bring up Heidi." Dante nodded.

"What does Heidi have to do with it?" Demetri shook his head.

"Nothing. Never mind." Dante shook his head.

"It's okay, you can tell me. Forget how she came up. What did you guys talk about regarding her?"

"Do I even need to tell you?" Dante thought a moment and smiled a little.

"Felix is right, you know." Demetri looked at Dante while he spoke. "You should tell her. She loves you too."

"I know." Dante grinned.

"I never thought you to be shy, dad." Demetri rolled his eyes.

"Well I am. I have tried, but I always chock. I don't know why. I'm glad you didn't get that from me at least." Dante smiled.

"Me too. I don't know what I'd do if I was like that." Demetri laughed without humor.

"Well, for starters, you'd actually behave yourself once in a while instead of going out of your way to make Aro and Caius angry. Sometimes I think you like being yelled at." Dante smiled weakly.

"No. Not really. But I have been good lately."

"At last. I thought you never would be." Dante was quiet again. Finally, Demetri sighed. Then he looked at Dante. His face was sad and thoughtful. "Dante." Dante looked at Demetri with the same look.

"Yeah?"

"Is something bothering you?" Dante's eyes became nervous and he shook his head.

"No, nothing. Nothing at all. Good luck with Heidi, dad. I know you can do it." Demetri was about to say something, but Dante got up and ran back to his room. Demetri was about to go after him, but then chose not to.

He knew something was wrong. He wasn't sure what that was, but it was there. Dante had been acting strange for weeks, but he'd never said a word to Demetri. Usually, Dante would tell Demetri when something was wrong. Dante never thought Demetri cared, but he liked talking to him and it made him feel like Demetri cared whenever Dante told him about his problems. This of course wasn't the case. But Demetri noticed that Dante was upset about something and wasn't telling him, and that made him anxious. He didn't like not knowing what was going on with Dante. But asking Aro to tell him was out of the question. Demetri didn't want to risk Aro getting mad at Dante for whatever reason.

Demetri also knew that badgering Dante to tell him what was wrong wouldn't get him anywhere either. That would only make things worse. Against Demetri's better judgment, he let the matter go and decided to wait for Dante to tell him what was wrong on his own. Demetri left the lobby and made his way to the library hoping to be semi-alone. When he got there, Corin was there reading something. Demetri looked at the title and realized it was Animal Farm.

"Are you almost done with that?" Corin looked up, nodded and closed the book.

"Yeah, here. I already know what happens anyway. I'll read something else." Demetri walked over and took the book while Corin got up and looked through the shelves for something else to read.

"Thanks." Demetri watched Corin a moment while he looked for a book. Then, he couldn't help himself. "Can I ask you something, Corin?" Corin stopped looking and turned his attention to Demetri.

"Sure. What's on your mind?" Demetri sat on the couch and Corin started looking for a book again.

"It's about Dante. I think something's wrong."

"What do you mean? I didn't realize he was acting differently. He's getting in less trouble, but that isn't something to sneer at." Demetri shook his head.

"It's more than that. Something's on his mind, I can tell. He looks like he's planning something but he's upset about it."

"Does he?" Demetri nodded. Corin picked out a random book and looked at Demetri again. "Should we tell Aro?" Demetri shook his head.

"Oh God, no. I don't know what's going on with Dante. For all I know, it would get him in trouble with Aro. I'd rather not do that."

"I see. I don't blame you. Aro isn't fond of Dante anyway, so that doesn't help."

"No, it doesn't."

"Dante hasn't told you anything?" Demetri shook his head. "He hasn't said anything that might concern you?" Demetri shook his head again.

"Nothing. And it's driving me mad. He usually talks to me when something wrong."

"Do you think he's up to something bad?" Demetri shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know what he would be planning to do." Corin shrugged and sat back in the reclining chair.

"If we aren't planning to tell Aro, I say just keep a close eye on Dante. You never know, it might be nothing. But at least you'll be prepared if it's not."

"Demetri." Demetri looked over and saw Heidi in the doorway of the library.

"What?"

"Come with me for a moment."

Demetri sighed and placed his face in his hands after he nodded and she started walking up the stairs. Heidi heard them. She'd been walking to the library wanting to read Pride and Prejudice, but she stayed and listened to the conversation. Demetri already knew she was there. He just didn't acknowledge her. In truth, he wanted to talk to her too, anyway. Demetri left the library and followed Heidi's tenor as he went up the stairs and found her on the balcony of one of the many, unused, bedrooms in the castle. Neither spoke until Demetri was standing next to her looking out into the city.

"Why didn't you tell me something was wrong?"

"I wasn't sure. I didn't want to say anything when I wasn't sure." Heidi shrugged.

"What are we going to do? We can't tell Aro."

"I know. I think the best we can do is watch him and make sure everything's okay. I just hope I'm really wrong."

"Me too." Demetri looked at Heidi when she said that and couldn't stop a smile. Heidi looked at him and gave Demetri a strange look. "Why are you smiling?" Demetri shrugged.

"Sorry. I just thought it was nice that you care about him so much. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks Dante isn't a rotten boy." Heidi smiled and shook her head.

"Of course not. He's a good kid. All kids get themselves in trouble from time to time. That doesn't mean he's bad. He's a lot like you actually." Demetri looked at Heidi like she was nuts.

"How?" Heidi shrugged.

"He's really stubborn and determined. And he's sincere. Just like his daddy." Demetri grinned a little and shook his head.

"He's more like his mother. He's creative and has bravery I wish I could have. I really envy him. He's not scared of Aro and Caius. I can't understand it." Heidi shrugged.

"Like you said, he's a brave little boy. And for the record, Demetri, I think you're plenty brave." Demetri looked at Heidi and smiled shyly.

"You really think so?" Heidi nodded.

"Absolutely." Demetri looked at Heidi a moment at a loss for words. When he did speak, he was extremely nervous. He didn't even have a heart rate and yet he was still nervous.

"Heidi?"

"Yeah, Demetri?" Demetri went silent again. This happened every time. He would be about to say it and he would chock and say something stupid. But he fought the urge to back out. He kept breathing, hoping to make himself less nervous.

"I…….."

"You what?" She didn't look angry. If anything, she looked eager. She was.

"I…….um…………"

"Yes?" Heidi did her best to try and urge Demetri on. Finally, Demetri glanced towards the door, then back at Heidi.

"Can we go somewhere else?"

"Where?" Demetri shrugged.

"I don't care. Anywhere but the castle." Heidi smiled sweetly and took Demetri's hand in hers. She had a feeling she knew what he was hoping for. He was hoping that the seclusion might make him less nervous.

When Heidi and Demetri were holding hands, Heidi stood on the railing and Demetri followed. When they were both standing on the railing of the balcony, Heidi pulled him with her as she jumped to the roof of another building across from them. Demetri followed her as she led him to wherever it was she wanted to go. Neither of them said anything. Demetri was too nervous. Heidi stopped when they reached the church. They went to the tower that held the bell. She didn't let go of his hand when she looked at him again. She was still smiling at him trying to make him less nervous.

"You were saying?" Demetri looked at Heidi and tried to find comfort in her freshly bright red eyes. He breathed in and out trying to calm down.

"Um……..well, I….you know…." Heidi shook her head with a smile.

"I'm dense, Demetri. Tell me." Demetri laughed a little at her joke. Then Heidi started doing something he wasn't expecting. She walked closer to him and didn't stop until they were chest to chest and her other hand rested on his chest while her other hand stayed in his.

"Heidi."

"Yes?" While looking at her, Demetri realized he was actually shaking. He couldn't understand why he was so nervous. But he wouldn't let himself back out this time. Instead, he took a deep, unneeded breath, then looked back in her eyes and forced the words to come out whether they liked it or not.

"I..love you..Heidi. I have for a long time." Heidi's smile widened even more and she brought her hand that was on his shoulder to his face and started running her fingers through his hair.

"I love you too, Demetri. I'm glad you finally told me." With those simple words, every fear that Demetri had melted away and he found himself feeling stupid for ever being scared to tell her. Heidi brought her face a little closer to Demetri's and he rested his hand on her waist while his other hand squeezed hers. "And there's another thing you owe me, I think, that's way overdue."

"What's that?" Heidi grinned and didn't answer. She only closed the distance between them and kissed him.

Demetri was taken by surprise and was still for a moment. But it wasn't long before he kissed her back. He let go of her hand and took her into his arms in a tight hug while she wrapped her arms around his neck just as tightly. As they kissed and got lost in each other, the bell next to them started ringing and went on for ten dongs, letting the town know the time. They ignored the sounds from the bell and kept kissing and made the kiss passionate when Heidi sucked on his bottom lip.

After a few minutes, Demetri straightened out and stood tall, pulling Heidi up with him so her feet were dangling a couple inches above the ground. Then Demetri began kissing along her jaw and down her neck and around her ear while Heidi kissed along his neck in return. Demetri and Heidi stayed at the clock tower for hours together. They both had centuries of tension that demanded release. When it was early in the morning, they were still at the bell tower sitting together with their cloaks covering them. Heidi was snuggling into Demetri's chest while he smelled her hair and held her tightly and secure in his lap.

"I was beginning to think this would never happen."

"I know. But I finally did." After tonight, Demetri was finally rid of all the shyness he'd had before. Now he laughed at himself for ever being scared of telling her. And now that he wasn't scared anymore, he couldn't seem to stop. "Hey, Heidi."

"Yeah?" Demetri lifted her chin so she was looking at him.

"Let's get married." Heidi's eyes widened a little.

"Married?" Demetri nodded.

"Afton and Chelsea did it. Same with Aro and Sulpicia, even Caius and Athenadora got married. We can keep the ceremony between just us. Honestly, I would prefer it that way." Heidi smiled and shook her head.

"Not just us. Dante needs to be there. You need a best man after all." Demetri smiled and nodded.

"I suppose I do, don't I?" Heidi nodded.

"Just you me and Dante. That's all we need." Heidi rested her face back on Demetri's chest and snuggled close again. "And I've always wanted a son." Demetri smiled wider and held Heidi impossibly closer.

"He's as much your son as he is mine." Heidi smiled and reached up to kiss him again.

Heidi and Demetri stayed at the clock tower for another hour before they went back to the castle. They didn't talk much to anyone except for Felix. Felix was just relieved that they'd finally gotten together, but also was sure to mention that he was kind of pissed that no one won any money off them. Evidently, the whole castle had been betting on when they would get together. Of course, those bets were taken before Italy was using Euros, so no one won. Dante wasn't surprised to hear they'd finally gotten together. He was surprised when Heidi told him, and he was to keep this between him Heidi Felix and Demetri, that they were getting married soon and that he was going to be there.

As Felix said, he didn't go back to see the woman that was in the tower. Athenadora and Sulpicia were watching her and making sure that her pregnancy was going smoothly. As she progressed, she realized she was starting to love the baby, as odd as the circumstances were. She loved the baby from the moment she first felt it nudge her. It made her cooperate with Sulpicia and Athenadora much more than she had before.

On April 10th, 2012, the woman started feeling a lot of pain in her abdomen. She knew right away that the baby was coming, but she couldn't believe it was happening so fast. When Sulpicia and Athenadora heard her say she was starting to feel pain, they grinned and waited next to her bed for her water to break so they could get started. When it did, Sulpicia got started on getting the baby out and sent Athenadora out to go get Felix. Felix was in the lobby like he usually was sitting with Demetri and Heidi. Everyone knew about Heidi and Demetri now, but they didn't know about their plans of getting married soon. Though that was a minor detail that not many in the coven would really care about. When Athenadora was in the lobby, she ignored Sofia's greeting and went straight to Felix, who looked at her, then his eyes went wide.

"The baby's coming. You need to get up there." Then Athenadora left with Felix following closely behind her. Dante noticed them going up and stayed at the base of the stairs waiting for a chance to do what it was he was planning to do.

Felix waited outside the door while Athenadora went back in the room and helped Sulpicia finish. The woman was screaming loudly from the pain of being ripped open, but Felix did his best to ignore it. He stood to attention when he heard the sound of a baby crying and felt his stomach drop. He'd never felt so scared as he did at that moment. He'd been forced to have a child and he had no idea how to be a father. This was the first time the seriousness of the situation and what was about to happen really hit him. And he didn't like it. Then Sulpicia came out and handed him a little baby that was dressed in a little yellow dress with her hands covering her face in fear. When Felix looked at her covering her face, he couldn't fight the thought that it was sort of cute.

"Congratulations, Felix. It's a girl." Then Sulpicia went back into the room to finish off the mother.

She was still covering her face, but Felix looked at her trying to find his traits. She had his hair, that much was plain. Her mother had paler brown hair. Felix' skin was pasty because of being a vampire, but he still had an olive tone that only an Italian could have. The baby had his and her mother's olive tone. After a few moments, she finally took her hands from her face and looked at Felix. The moment Felix saw that little face, he was stunned. He'd seen this face before. He knew it so well, but he couldn't remember why. It was a sweet, innocent little face that was chubby, but showed a hint of what would one day be a very thin frame. She had a small nose that looked similar to his and the longest lashes he'd ever seen. But what really had him stunned were her eyes. She had strange, but beautiful, green eyes. They were stunning. He knew those eyes from somewhere. He knew he did. He just couldn't place it. Then that little baby smiled and it won his heart. She had a smile that made him think of home for whatever reason. And when she smiled and he could see her face, a name that he remembered immediately came to mind.

"Lia." She smiled even more when she heard him say her name. Then she reached out for him and Felix lifted her a little closer. When she was close enough, she kissed his check and Felix just stared at her.

"Felix." Felix looked and saw Athenadora and Sulpicia in the doorway, Athenadora holding the woman in her arms. Lia covered her eyes again at the sight. "Get to the main room. Aro wants to see her." Felix nodded and started walking down the stairs and Athenadora and Sulpicia made their way to where they kept the incinerator.

When Dante saw Athenadora and Sulpicia reach the bottom of the stairs and Felix went to the main room, Dante kept his distance and followed them to see where they were planning to dump the body. When he saw the incinerator they used, he got out and went to the main room so they wouldn't know he was there.

Aro smiled when he saw the little girl Felix was holding. He got up from his throne and walked over to see the baby closer up. Aro grinned and looked at Felix with that smile. Felix stood in silence and waited for Aro to speak.

"Does she have a name?" Felix nodded. "And what might that be?"

"Lia, sir." Aro smiled a little wider.

"So you noticed it too. Good for you. I'd thought you'd forgotten all about her." Felix gave Aro a confused stare.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't follow." Aro sighed.

"I guess you had forgotten. She looks exactly like your little sister."

"Who?"

"Your little sister. She passed away when you were still human. Her name was Lia. It's a tragic story, really."

"Oh." Without his asking, Aro continued the story.

"You see, you had a wife that was having an affair, Lia found out, your wife murdered her, or at least that's the impression you got, and so you killed her and her lover. She looked at if she'd fallen from the second floor of the building and she died from the impact to the ground." Felix nodded awkwardly.

"That is tragic."

"It's a shame you don't remember her. You two were close. Especially after your parents died. Oh well. On to more pressing matters." Caius spoke next.

"What more is there to talk about? It's not like she has a power or anything." Aro shrugged.

"That doesn't mean she isn't useful." Caius glared at Aro.

"We had an agreement, Aro." Aro nodded.

"Yes, Caius, I know. Don't get upset." Felix stayed quiet about whatever they were talking about. He never really cared when they were planning and he didn't really care now. He was looking at Lia. He didn't remember having a sister, but he knew this face and name. And he knew that he already adored her.

Lia was looking at Felix too and she was smiling the whole time. She reached for him again with her hands reaching to his face. She'd done this before, so Felix assumed she wanted to kiss his cheek again. Felix lifted her closer so she could. But when she touched his face, Felix felt incredibly strange. He felt like his body was starting to burn, but nowhere near the burn of changing into a vampire. Then he heard something odd. He could swear he heard his head beating. And his mind became blank. He couldn't remember that ever happening. And suddenly, he desperately needed to breath.

"Felix?" he heard Renata's voice, but he couldn't concentrate on it at all. His mind was limited in a way it hadn't been since he was human. He opened his eyes again when everything stopped, but he didn't stop feeling strange. "Oh my god."

"What happened?" He heard Caius say. He looked up at Caius and Aro and they went wide eyed. Felix started panicking. What was wrong with him. "My god." Demetri spoke.

"Felix…..your eyes."

"What about my eyes?"

"They're brown."

"What?!" Then he lowered Lia from him, then he froze. Everything was stopping. He could hear everything again, see everything again, concentrate on everything. And his body didn't feel hot anymore. When he felt normal again, Aro started laughing. All the members of the coven looked at him strangely, waiting for him to explain his sudden laughter.

"My, my, this is just too good to be true. See Caius, we got lucky after all. It would appear she turns you human." Caius eyes widened.

"Are you certain? Is that really what she just did?" Aro nodded.

"It would appear so. Felix had a heart beat, rosy skin, brown eyes. What further proof do you need?" Caius looked at Lia.

"Incredible." Aro nodded.

"Incredible indeed. You did us proud, Felix. This is the best gift any coven leader could ever ask for."

"But she seems to only be able to do it when she's touching someone. That's not exactly perfection." Aro rolled his eyes at Caius.

"Stop being so negative. She has a power that's unique to our world. That's all that matters." Felix was staring wide eyed at Lia now. She was looking at him with a worried stare, thinking that she had done something wrong. "Felix." Felix was taken out of his trance and looked at Aro.

"Yes, sir?"

"Keep a special eye on her. She's got a special gift. I want to keep this one around." All the guards looked at Aro with strange faces, especially the fathers. What was that supposed to mean? Before any could ask, Aro shooed them away.

Felix took Lia with him to the lobby and ignored Sofia when she tried to look at Lia. He simply walked past her to where the TV was and started looking through the channels for something good to watch. He found Young Frankenstein and was happy to see that it was just starting. He thought Lia's first movie experience would be better with a classic Mel Brookes comedy. Felix was a huge fan of Mel Brookes. The man's movies made him laugh like no other. Dead And Loving It was one of his favorites. It was just so silly. Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles were his best though. At least in his opinion they were.

Lia seemed to enjoy the movie. There was no way she got the jokes, but it didn't matter. She would understand them eventually.

While everyone went back to their original activities, Dante went to the lobby and checked to see if anyone other than Sofia was there. When he saw Felix, he sighed, knowing he'd have to put his little plan on hold, and went to the TV where Felix was and took a seat on the couch to watch Young Frankenstein. Felix didn't say anything to Dante. They both just watched the movie in silence. When the movie was over, Felix looked at Lia and noticed that she was asleep. He smiled at her and took her to the kids' room where a crib had already been set up for her.

When Felix was gone, Dante got up from the couch and walked over to Sofia's desk. She was filing her nails and not being productive. Dante knew that it wouldn't be hard to get her away from her desk. The hard part would be getting everything he needed to done in time before anyone caught him looking through the internet. It was hard enough hiding all the pictures he'd taken the past few days. He was relieved that no one seemed to notice that he'd been carrying a camera with him everywhere he went.

"Sofia." Sofia looked at Dante when she heard him say her name and smiled.

"Yes, Dante?"

"Aro needs you to run an errand for him. He needs you to go to the legal office and get some paper work from his lawyer. His name is Mr. Floretina."

"Alright. What paper work should I ask for?"

"He didn't tell me. Just say it's for Aro and he'll know what you're talking about." Sofia nodded.

"Alright. I'm off."

Sofia took her purse with her and made her way out of the castle. When she was gone, Dante took her seat and started looking through the internet for everything he needed. He didn't have much time and he needed to make this quick. He was just glad it was a Mac. He wouldn't have to be as worried about the computer doing anything weird. He wasn't usually a fan of Macs, but when one was in a hurry, it did the job. Dante went to Google and typed in all the information he needed. One being tourist that had disappeared in Volterra over the past ten years. The list was astonishing. It made Dante smile. This would definitely give him a case. And all the pictures he'd taken would be like gold. Dante knew Aro and Caius weren't going to kill him and the others right away. Lia's little gift had given them some time before he'd need to worry. But the fact of the matter was that it wouldn't be long before he would have to worry again. When that time came, he would be ready. And he had every intention of taking everyone with him. And with his shield and the little tricks to confuse scents that Demetri had taught him, they'd be safe at long last.


	6. Our Fathers' Love

**Our Fathers' Love**

As Aro had ordered him to, Felix kept a close watch on Lia. It wasn't because Aro told him to though. The more he thought about what Aro had told him about his human life, the more he started to actually remember what had happened. He remembered his sister and how she'd been his best friend and there for him and supportive of him when he joined the army and always by his side and how she was forced away from him by the woman he'd once called his wife. Because of that, he would never let Lia get too far away from him. As silly as the thought might seem to others, he refused to risk losing Lia. He'd already lost his sister tragically. He would never let that happen to him ever again.

But in being so protective of her, Felix would yell at her a lot and get mad at her for wondering away or trying to explore something that he would consider dangerous. Lia never thought much of it until she had time alone with Dante. He told her that they were experiments and meant nothing to the Volturi guards. To them, they were just little test subjects of Aro's and that he planned to kill them soon anyway. At first, Lia didn't believe him. She was sure that daddy loved her. But Felix was sometimes so harsh and would get mad easily and over a silly thing like wondering too far from him. The more she thought about it, the more she was almost forced to believe it.

She'd started a ritual every night where she would lay in bed and think about Felix and the way he tended to overreact. Part of her said that he did that because he cared. Another part told her that was just him reacting poorly to being forced to become a parent. It made her cry. Every night she cried. But she did it silently. She didn't want Felix to find out she did it. She didn't know if it would make him mad.

Like all the others, she grew quickly and looked like a toddler within days. And while Felix watched her grow, he discovered that she started looking more and more like his little sister, or what little he remembered about her after really thinking about it. But he also remembered his sister being absent minded. Lia was always focused and thinking clearly, always knowing exactly what was happening around her. One time, while it was pouring outside, Felix found Lia sitting next to a window just staring outside. When Felix walked over to her, he asked her what she was doing. 'I'm counting the raindrops,' she'd said. Felix couldn't help but smile.

Dante waited as long as he could before he went through with what he wanted to do. For the first two months that Lia was alive, Aro and Caius never spoke again about disposing of Dante and the others. But by the third month, they started toying with the idea again. They didn't plan on killing Lia and Amadora. They thought their gifts were valuable. At least Aro did. Caius thought Lia had a wonderful gift, but the drawback that she had to touch someone to use her power put them at a huge disadvantage.

Dante overheard them talking again and had no intention of waiting for them to decide exactly what they wanted to do. And he planned on taking everyone with him whether they wanted to come with or not. The idea of leaving them behind made him feel sick. Especially when he thought about leaving Amadora. They'd become so close in the time they'd known each other. Amadora had come to rely on Dante and considered him her best friend. Dane felt the same way. He would have to set up everything alone, though. The less they all knew the better and the easier it would be for Dante to do what was needed. One day, when Felix wasn't in the lobby, Dante went to Sofia again, making up another lie about something Aro needed her to do.

"Sofia." She looked up from her nails at Dante.

"Yes?"

"Aro needs you to get more copy paper." Sofia gave Dante a weird look.

"But we already have plenty of copy paper. And as I recall, last time you told me Aro needed something, you sent me out on a wild goose chase." Dante shook his head.

"No, that wasn't a goose chase. That was the lawyer trying to pretend he didn't know what he was talking about because he'd forgotten to do it. Aro handled that accordingly." Dante had to fight a smile as he spoke. He wasn't sure if he was sincerely a really good liar or if he was just lucky because Sofia was kind of a dip.

"Aro doesn't usually send me out to get copy paper though."

"Well, no. We usually have plenty in stock. But somebody forgot to order it." Sofia crossed her arms and gave Dante a nasty look.

"No one ever told me that I needed to order it. I was under the impression that Aro ordered it." Dante rolled his eyes.

"Aro can't be inconvenienced with such trivial matters. That's your job. And he told you this was something you needed to do. Now get off your pea brained ass and do your job." Sofia stared at Dante wide eyed for a moment before huffing in complaint, grabbing her purse, and walking out of the castle to go get copying paper.

When she was gone, Dante took her seat at the computer and started typing his letter. He planned on sneaking out as soon as he could and getting ready for the escape. He typed as fast as he could, being sure to correct any spelling errors that might come up. He kept the letter pretty general. He was sure to write about all the tourists that had been reported missing and how each of the victims were killed, being sure to explain how his mother and the other mothers had died, though he didn't know their names.

He was at least able to get a picture of Lia's mom before Sulpicia and Athenadora threw her into the furnace. Not to mention all the pictures he'd gotten of the furnace itself and all the burnt bones that were still there from recent victims. That would be irrefutable evidence. And if nothing else, it would distract everyone when the police comes knocking at their door long enough for Dante to cover everyone with his shield and run. They wouldn't have much time to do it even with the police distracting them.

Dante managed to have to letter written in minutes. He was grateful that he was able to tope really fast. When it was done, he printed it and looked for a manila envelope to put it in so it looked more important. When the letter was inside and the manila was sealed, Dante took one of the many rarely used fountain pens on the desk and wrote in his best handwriting, 'urgent information', hoping that would make them more likely to look at it sooner rather than later.

When everything was sealed and done, he ran to the front door and looked for the nearest police station and put his little report in the urgent box while none of them were looking. With any luck, Dante was hoping to see them by tonight or tomorrow. He was relieved that no one seemed to notice he was missing. No one was looking for him when he got back. Dante went back to his room wanting to get everyone's things together so they'd have some spare clothes. But then he realized all those clothes held their scents. They would need to steal new clothes from somewhere to help confuse the smells. Not to mention the rubbing alcohol they'd need to virtually illuminate their scents, even if only for a few minutes. That combined with the new clothes, they'd never be able to find them, even with his father's gift.

"Dante." He heard his name being called from behind him while he was on the stairs. He looked over his shoulder and saw Demetri standing at the end of the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Where were you? I looked everywhere for you. Amadora said she hadn't seen you either." Dante tried to hide any panic and covered it up with the first thing that came to mind.

"I was in the lobby watching a movie."

"I looked there and I didn't see you." Dante shrugged.

"I guess I wasn't there when you looked." Demetri nodded his head, though he wasn't sure he believed Dante. But he played along anyway.

"Whatever you say." Dante smiled and nodded before beginning to walk up the stairs again. But he stopped when Demetri started to talk. "By the way, Dante."

"Yeah?"

"Sofia got back a few minutes ago. She said that you'd sent her to get copying paper by orders of Aro." Dante nodded. "Why? We don't need any." Dante shrugged, already knowing his excuse for that one.

"I was playing a prank on her. You know, same as when I told her that she needed to go see Aro's none existent lawyer. I was just playing a joke." Again, Demetri didn't believe him. Dante was up to something. He knew Dante well enough to know when he was planning something. But instead, he sighed and shook his head.

"Stop teasing her. You're making it difficult to do her job."

"She already doesn't do her job. She just sits there and does her nails. As far back as I can remember, that's always all she did."

"She does her job. Her job simply offers her a lot of free time. Some women like to do their nails in their free time." Dante shrugged.

"If you say so, dad." Dante turned and was about to walk back up the stairs. Demetri watched him go up the stairs and didn't walk away until he heard the door to the kids' room open and close. Demetri listened for Heidi's tenor and followed it, finding her in the library reading. Demetri sat down next to her and she leaned against him.

"I know he's up to something."

"You've said that." Demetri looked at Heidi with a critical, though still loving look. She was teasing him a bit.

"And it's still true."

"I thought you said you were going to talk to him. I don't want Dante getting in trouble with Aro."

"Neither do I. But there's nothing I can do to make him tell me. I can't say that I'll tell Aro. He would catch my bluff. Beating him wouldn't work. The boy can handle anything. The best I can do is maybe getting him to tell me on his own."

"Well, I hope that works soon. Or at least you get a chance to stop whatever he's doing. You have to remember he's also a determined boy. Dante won't stop until he accomplishes what he set out to do, whatever that may be." Heidi turned so she was facing Demetri with their faces close together. "I'd rather never have to find out." Demetri nodded and kissed Heidi.

"Me either. I just hope everything turned out okay." Then Demetri looked at Heidi again with a planning smile.

"How can you be smiling? Our son might be in trouble." Demetri felt a twinge of pride at hearing her say 'our child', but he ignored that and stuck with that he was about to say.

"Let's leave the Volturi. Let's take Dante and just leave." Heidi widened her eyes and dropped her book on the floor.

"What?"

"You heard me. Let's leave. He let Eleazar and Carmen go. Maybe he'll let us go too."

"Demetri, he'll never let us go. Eleazar had a gift that Aro could live without. He won't give up two gifted vampires."

"What's he going to do?"

"How about Jane and Alec? Did they ever come to mind?"

"We'll leave without telling him then."

"So instead of just taking a no, you want to make us the equivalent of outlaws."

"It's not like he'll be able to find us. Even if he gets a different tracker, they won't be able to find me. I hear their tenor, I walk the opposite way. And better yet, Dante can shield us."

"He's half human, Demetri. He can't shield us forever." Demetri shook his head.

"He won't need to. Just during the day. He can keep up covered while he's awake and we'll keep going away from the Volturi while he's asleep. We'll leave Italy. Hell, leave Europe, go to America or something. Or even just back to Germany or Russia, where we grew up." Heidi looked at Demetri thoughtfully and torn.

"Are you sure it would work?" Demetri smiled and nodded.

"Of course. They'll never find us. They'll never catch us. Maybe the Cullens could help us even."

"What could the Cullens do?"

"They have Bella. Bella can keep us under her shield while we fight. Either that, or we can run forever. Whichever you prefer."

"I don't know Demetri."

"Trust me, Heidi. I'd never let anything happen to you and Dante. I want us to be a happy family. I don't want to keep Dante here anymore. I want him to grow up in a happy home, not this carnage and destructiveness. He deserves better than that. You deserve better than that. Let me give you the best I can."

Heidi looked at Demetri thoughtfully for a minute. She wanted to believe his suggestion would work. In truth, there was no reason it couldn't. Unless, of course, Aro were to find a vampire immune to Dante's shield. But even then, Demetri would hear that vampire's tenor and they could still run. The more she thought about it, the more ludicrous the idea sounded. But she trusted Demetri would make it work.

"When?" Demetri smiled and kissed her.

"First thing tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Aro Caius, and Marcus were in the main room like always. Caius and Aro had been talking in length about what to do with the children. True, Lia was a pleasant surprise and a joy to have in the coven, but she was limited. So were the other children, with the exception of Amadora. When it was late in the afternoon, Aro and Caius finally came to a decision about what they thought would be best. They would kill all the children except for Lia and Amadora. Lia and Amadora were assets to the coven while Dante, Armando, and Octavia were more of a liability. Especially Dante.

"Sulpicia, Athenadora." They both looked at Aro to listen to him speak. "The children are all in their rooms, correct?" Sulpicia nodded.

"They went to bed for the night, Darling." Aro smiled.

"Good. Do me a favor and guard them for the night. I want to avoid any incidents. Dante, Armando, and Octavia die tomorrow." Sulpicia and Athenadora smiled and stood from where they were and made their way to the kids' room and stood in front of the door.

Dante noticed their presence when they got to their door. He was really hoping that the police would show up soon. With all the photos that were in that envelope with the letter, there was no way they wouldn't come. Dante didn't tell Amadora or the others about any of this. They knew Dante was planning on making them leave, but they didn't know any details.

Sofia was still at her desk, preparing to leave for the night. But then she heard a buzz coming from the desk phone. It was the buzzer from the commercial, tourist door of the castle. She pressed the button to show the camera view on the Mac screen. She saw a large group of police officers outside the castle, all armed and looked extremely angry. She could swear she even saw at least two lawyers amongst them. When Sofia didn't immediately let them in, they started ringing the bell again.

She ran out of the lobby to the main room where most everyone was. Jane and Alec were sitting with Chelsea and Afton and Corin talking about something political that had happened recently. Felix was playing chess with Renata, Heidi and Demetri watching. Marcus, Caius, and Aro were at their thrones as usual. Marcus was staring off into the distance indifferently while Aro and Caius spoke about something they wanted to do to the castle. The west wing was starting to deteriorate and was in dire need of repair. Aro saw Sofia running to him and he stood from his seat to meet her. When he did, everyone in the room turned their attention to him.

"Sofia, what's the matter. You should be going home. You've had a hard day's work, you deserve to go home and get some rest." Sofia shook her head.

"Sir, we have a problem. There're police outside the castle and they look really mad. They were all armed and one near the front was holding a bunch of papers." Everyone widened their eyes in surprise. Caius spoke his complaint.

"What the hell are the police doing here? What do they want?"

"I don't know, sir. I haven't buzzed them in yet. I wanted to tell you before I did." Aro sighed.

"That would explain the incessant buzzing. Yes, Sofia, buzz them in before they break the door down." Sofia nodded and started running back to the lobby. Everyone followed Aro, Caius, and Marcus when they joined Sofia. As they passed the stairs, Athenadora and Sulpicia came down to see what was going on.

"My darling, what's the matter? Athenadora and I kept hearing the buzzer."

"I'm sure it's nothing, love. It's probably something silly." Though she trusted Aro's judgment, Sulpicia stayed with everyone, as did Athenadora, to see what was going on.

When Sofia got to her desk, she pressed the button that unlocked the doors and the police charged their way in. Aro stood in front of the group while they all waited for the police to come to the lobby with whatever business they had. The officers stormed into the lobby, a man in a suit leading them holding a manila envelope and a piece of paper in his hand. When he was close enough, Aro smiled welcomingly.

"Good sirs. What may I ask brings you here?" The man in the suit up front stayed serious.

"I have here in my hand a warrant to search the castle and our reasoning for believing that you and your other companions are up to no good." Aro stayed charming.

"Whatever gave you a need to search my castle? We've done nothing wrong." The cop laughed without humor and held up the manila envelope.

"Do you know what this is, sir?"

"It's a manila envelope I believe." No one laughed at Aro's joke. No one was in a laughing mood. None of the cops laughed either. The man holding the evidence shook his head.

"This is written testimonial as well as pictures of what you've been doing here. This letter we received earlier today claims that your household is responsible for the murders of several tourists and a few women from this city." Demetri forced it to not show, but it all clicked in his head. He knew Dante was up to something. This had to be it. But he kept that to himself. He wouldn't let Aro know.

"That's preposterous. We've done no such thing." The cop remained unconvincing and took the letter out and read it.

"'Officers of the Volterra Police Department,

_I have news of suspicious on goings in the Volturi castle that need to be revealed for the sake and wellbeing of the good people of this city. The man who owns this castle, Aro, as well as the people that share his castle, have been responsible for a number of the unsolved cases of missing tourists as well as the murder of women from this city. _

_Each murder was performed in the same manner. Each person was drained of all their blood and later burned in the furnace, which I have provided a picture of. One woman specifically that is shown in two of the photos was ripped apart mercilessly and drained of all her blood before being thrown in the furnace. Four other women in the past three years shared her fate. These murders have been going on for many years and will continue to happen if the Volturi castle be left alone. I hope these pictures are enough to prove I am telling the truth. I remain an invisible witness._

_D.'_ Still not sounding familiar?"

Aro remained composed, but he was getting extremely angry. Caius, of course, wasn't holding in his anger. He reached over and took the letter from the hands of the cop and looked it over. The letter was typed, but he could smell the scent of whoever wrote it. And when he was able to identify it, his temper flared and he looked at Aro while ignoring the cop who was trying to get the letter back. He touched Aro's hand for an instant to allow Aro to hear his suspicions. Aro agreed and took the letter, though still remaining composed.

"Well, officers, clearly this letter is a fake, an attempt to get my home in trouble." Aro looked over his shoulder. "Sofia, dispose of this will you?" He hands the letter to her, then the cop took the opportunity to take the letter back.

"Whether you think that or not, this is still evidence. And this evidence was enough to give us a warrant to search the castle. Now if this is in fact false, then you will have nothing to worry about. If it's true, you're all under arrest."

As the officer spoke and Aro began trying to reason with him, Demetri suddenly couldn't hear. Amadora's, Octavia's, Armando's, and Lia's tenors were suddenly gone. He felt a panic like no other as it happened. Heidi saw the sudden panic on Demetri's face and gently shook him hoping to get back his attention.

"Demetri, what is it?" He barely heard her. Except for Aro and Caius, everyone looked at Demetri.

"They're gone." They all became confused. Afton, Corin, Heidi, and Felix felt themselves start to panic too, hoping Demetri was talking about something else. Felix kept his voice low, but it still had its potent anger.

"What do you mean? Who's gone?" They all knew the answer to that, but they were all holding onto a hope that they were wrong. Marcus started rubbing his face, knowing exactly what was going on and in remorse that he knew he was right about everything all along.

Demetri left to group and made his way to the stairs running at blinding speed. After a second, Heidi and the others followed after him to the children's room. He opened the door and was mortified when they weren't there. What was worse was that there didn't even seem to be a hole of any kind anywhere in the room. Felix looked around and under the beds checking to verify, and there in fact was nothing. Once the room was checked, Demetri and the others ran up the stairs to the top of the tower. Before leaving, Demetri told Heidi to stay at the castle and they all jumped into the streets and followed the scent.

For a few minutes, following the scent seemed to be working. But it was leading them all over town. Then, to all their horror, the smell was masked by a harsh chemical. Rubbing alcohol. Demetri tried to ignore it and kept following that smell instead. But then they reached a clothing store. It was one of those designer stores where the scent was heavily perfumed. Prada. Despite the situation, Demetri couldn't help but realize he'd taught Dante well.

They tried following that scent, but it was mixed so oddly with the rubbing alcohol that it made the smell unbearable. But they followed anyway. When they reached the woods, the smell split into five different directions. They split up and followed the scents until, to their shock, was completely gone. They met halfway through the woods and all of them were panicked and worried, especially Felix. They spent an hour looking all over the woods where they lost the scent. And when they couldn't find them, they went back to the castle. But it wasn't a silent trip.

"I can't believe this is happening." Demetri was mumbling to himself. He knew Dante was up to something. And he just had to wait for it to happen. He wished he could go back in time and sit Dante down to demand to know what was going on. Corin was the only quiet one amongst the group. Afton and Felix were yelling at Demetri the whole way back.

"This is your son's fault, I hope you know that, Demetri. Now our children are alone in the woods with no way to take care of themselves." Demetri ignored Afton, but when Felix spoke, he was impossible to ignore. He ran in front of Demetri and grabbed a hold of his shirt and forced his attention.

"My little girl's out there all alone because of Dante! Her tenor has to be there, you're just not listening close enough!" Demetri forced Felix' hands away from him and he started yelling too.

"Dante has his shield around them! If I could hear their tenors, I would follow them! Don't you dare accuse me of not paying attention! And let me tell you another thing, both of you! Your children are perfectly capable of telling Dante they aren't going to cooperate with him, and he wouldn't stop them or try to change their minds. Your kids left willingly just the same as Dante!"

Felix made a move to attack Demetri out of rage, but Corin ran between them and stopped the fight from happening. Both vampires had their teeth bared and roars emanating from their throats. Afton stood next to Felix ready to attack Demetri too while Corin remained between them trying his hardest to keep them apart.

"I've done nothing to make her want to run away! I was a good father to her, unlike the rest of you!" This time, they all looked at Felix with rage. They all growled, though Corin forced his composure for the most part. He seemed to be the only one that realized that arguing wouldn't accomplish anything or change what happened.

"What's that supposed to mean you filthy lecherous pig?! I was a good father too!"

"Until Chelsea wanted your attention. Are we the only ones that notice what Chelsea does? She pushes her away and never lets the poor girl near you! You're letting your wife make you neglect you own daughter!"

"That's not true!" Corin was the next one to yell.

"Yes it is! She was abusing her and you let her do it! Are you so stupid that you don't even realize what's happening right under your nose?!" Afton roared again while Demetri forced him away from Corin. Felix went off to the side to avoid getting bumped into.

"She's doing no such thing! I would never let her do that!" Corin shrugged.

"And yet you do." Afton roared again and Demetri pushed him away again. Oddly enough, Felix ended up being the voice of reason.

"This is getting us nowhere. We need to keep looking for them. They can't have gone that far." They all looked at Felix and sighed to themselves.

They stayed in the woods for another hour looking for them, but still coming up with nothing. They finally went back to the castle and were relieved to find that the police had left. Heidi had somehow managed to make sure that they never checked the areas that would cause suspicion and they left without arresting anyone.

By now, Dante and the others were running away from the castle and were long out of Volterra and trying to get out to the nearest airport. Dante was pleased with how the plan had worked. He'd taken pictures of the furnace in the basement as well as the mutilated body of Lia's mother before they burned her, so the police were naturally going to want to investigate.

While Athenadora and Sulpicia were away from the door to their room, Dante and Armando moved aside his bed where Dante had been working on a hole for the past month and a half. He'd gotten the idea from Shawshank Redemption. Once they were out, Armando undid all the work that Dante had done and sealed up the hole. Once it was sealed, they started running. He made them stop at a convenience store where they filled one of their backpacks with a whole bunch of bottles of rubbing alcohol while also taking some paper bags with them from a grocery store. They covered their heads with the paper bags, held their breath, and poured the rubbing alcohol on themselves, three bottles a person.

Once they'd done that, they started running again and stopped at a store to get new clothes to help confuse the scent. They broke into a Prada boutique and got the clothes from the back that fit them the best, not bothering trying to get anything they liked, and left their clothes at the scene and kept running. Once they had new clothes, they started running to woods and didn't stop.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Dante?" Dante shook his head at Lia, who was on his back being carried.

"No clue, but don't ask questions."

Dante was holding Amadora's hand while they run. Octavia was holding Armando's hand and pulling him with her. Lia was the only one amongst the group that had faith that their parents really cared about them. Dante did his best to make Lia see the harsh truth, but she didn't believe it. But there was that small part of her that kept wondering. That was the only reason she'd agreed to go with Dante in the first place. The outcome of this whole thing would be what proved her right or wrong.

They'd been running for at least thirty minutes when Dante smelled something strange in the air. It was a strange, sweet smell. One scent smelled like peppermint and tobacco while the other smelled similar, but minty and like whiskey. Dante stayed on guard. It was a smell he didn't know and he wasn't sure if whoever it was, was an ally to Aro. The sweetness of the smell was the tell tale sign that whoever they were, were vampires. Armando smelled it too and stopped abruptly, still holding Octavia's hand. When she fell from the halt, Dante turned to look at him, making Amadora stop, and glared at him.

"What are you doing?!"

"There's a weird smell ahead. Don't you think we should take a different route?"

"I was about to, but you stopped suddenly. This is just as dangerous."

As Dante predicted, it really was. Before they could speak, the sources of the two smells were right in front of him within seconds of them stopping. They were two men that both looked creepy and disturbingly eager. They looked at each other after looking at Dante and the others and smiled at each other in a way that made a chill go down Dante's spine.

"Well, well, well, what do we have her Stefan?" The dark haired man, Stefan, grinned evilly.

"I do believe we have half breeds, Vladimir. Tell me, is it just me or does that one look familiar?" Stefan pointed at Dante and Vladimir grinned wider.

"My god, he does." They looked at each other again and spoke in unison.

"Demetri." Then they looked at Dante again. Stefan laughed again.

"Aro's really gone and done it. Not surprising I suppose." He walked a little closer. Dante backed away slightly as he moved forward. "Tell me, young man. What are you and your friends doing out here all alone without you parents?"

"That's none of your business." Vladimir and Stefan both raised an eyebrow, impressed that Dante had the courage to talk back to them. But Lia, not thinking anything of the two men before them, told them what they were doing.

"We ran away. We're trying to get to the Cullens and ask for their help." They all looked at Lia, a little angry at her for telling them. But Vladimir and Stefan simply grinned.

"The Cullens, you say. Well, if it's the Cullens you need, then it would be our pleasure to take you to them. And I'm sure their coven leader, Carlisle, would be thrilled to help you. Especially if it were to mean the end of the dreaded Volturi." Lia started getting nervous when Stefan spoke. Dante kept his guard up.

"Thanks, but I think we can find our own way." Vladimir grinned.

"Really? Do you know where the Cullens live?" Dante stayed quiet. He didn't want to admit out loud that he really had no idea where they were going. He knew the Cullens lived in the U.S. and that was about it. Vladimir chuckled. "I take that as a no." Armando's eyes widened at Dante.

"You took us away from home without even knowing where to go?!" Dante swatted at Armando without taking his eyes off Vladimir and Stefan.

"We would've figured it out." Stefan chuckled.

"It would've taken you two a long time. The Cullens are all the way in Washington State." Dante smiled politely.

"Well, that narrows down our search significantly. We'll start there." Dante made an action to walk away, but Vladimir stepped in front of him to stop him.

"I don't think so. You're the children of Volturi guards. That means that they'll stop at nothing to find all of you. You need to be with people that know where they're going." Dante shook his head.

"They won't find us. I have everyone under my shield, so my dad won't be able to find us." Vladimir and Stefan looked impressed, then looked at each other with those same impressed smiles.

"With a father like Demetri, I suppose it wouldn't be surprising for you to be immune to his gift." Vladimir nodded in agreement.

"That's what happened with Renesmee." Vladimir looked at Dante again. "Even so, it would be best not to go alone. It would be a pleasure to help you get to Washington." Dante shook his head again.

"We're going to the Cullens because we want them to help us. We don't want our parents to die. We just want to ensure that we'll all be safe again." Stefan gave them an offended smile.

"And that's what we want. If we want to handle the Volturi, we'll handle them on our own time." Dante didn't like the idea of letting Vladimir and Stefan take them to the Cullens. But Lia was the one that made the decision for everyone.

"I think we need to go to the Cullens, get support, and get rid of Aro and Caius and Marcus so that we can all be out of the picture. With them gone, us and our parents can go our own ways and be free." Everyone looked at Lia while she spoke. The kids were looking at her nervously. Vladimir and Stefan grinned and looked at each other.

"I like this kid. She's got her priorities straight." Stefan grinned wider at Vladimir's comment.

"Indeed she does. It's even better in our interest to take them to the Cullens now. If we do, we get to kill Aro, Caius, and Marcus. That's good enough for me."

"You have to promise that you won't hurt daddy, though." Lia said. Vladimir nodded and Stefan reassured her.

"Worry not, dear. If your parents do not attack us, we won't attack them."

"Not at all." Vladimir sighed.

"Fine. Not at all. We'll only kill Aro, Caius, and Marcus." Lia finally smiled.

"As long as daddy will be okay."

Dante was still unsure about Vladimir and Stefan, but he trusted Lia's intuition. At the very least, they could show them the way. And if they tried anything, defending themselves with Amadora's shield wouldn't be a problem. Against his better judgment, Dante agreed to let Stefan and Vladimir show them the way to the Cullens. They got them to the airport quickly and snuck them onto a plane to the U.S.

Back in Volterra, Demetri and the others finally got back to the castle. There was hell to pay when they got back. Caius was livid. He was yelling long before they were even in the main room. Aro was furious too, but wasn't yelling. He knew that yelling only made a mad situation more stressful. Marcus looked like he didn't care. He was fighting holding Aro's hand to tell him 'I told you so'. He fought the temptation, as strong as it was.

"How could you possibly lose them?! They can't have gone far!" Caius was yelling at Demetri, who was standing front and center, being the one that the blame was primarily placed on. He was the tracker, so when he failed to find someone, it was a situation that made Caius' dead blood boil.

"He has his shield up, sir. And we tried following their scents, but Dante erased the scent."

"How the hell did he do that?!"

"Rubbing alcohol and clothes from Prada." When Demetri said that, Aro nodded in agreement and shook his head.

"He's a clever little bastard, I'll give him that." Then Aro stood from his throne and looked at Demetri with a very serious face. "I want you to find him, Demetri. We can't have them running around without someone with them. Who knows what kind of trouble him and the others could get themselves into." Caius spoke next, giving the same orders as Aro, only in a much angrier tone.

"And when we say find them, we mean find them! I don't want to see your face again until you've brought that little leech to us or know exactly where he is. Is that understood, Demetri?!" Demetri nodded his head, hiding any annoyance he was feeling at hearing them insult Dante in such a manner.

"Yes, sir." With that, Demetri left the main room and went to the tallest tower in the castle and simply took a seat and waited. There was no way Dante could keep his shield up forever. And when it went down, he'd know where to look for him and he'd be ready.

Demetri was at the tower alone for a good three hours before someone came up to him. Felix and Heidi came up to see him. Felix came to ask for an update, which Demetri gave him through grinding teeth. Demetri wasn't expecting Felix, of all people, to be the one who asked him for updates every five minutes. When Felix had his answer, he left, leaving Heidi and Demetri alone on the tower together. Heidi looked at Demetri remorsefully and walked over to him, taking a seat next to him when she was close enough. Demetri let her in, but didn't really look at her. He was too preoccupied.

"I let this happen, Heidi. I knew it would happen and I just stood back and watched." Heidi shook her head.

"Don't blame yourself. It's all our faults." Then Heidi rubbed her face into Demetri's chest. "I never even told him how much I love him. I've never told him how much I think of him as my own son." Demetri sighed.

"Not once did I ever tell him I loved him. Not once." Then he rubbed his face with his free hand. "No wonder they ran away. I would too."

"I want him back, Demetri. I want him home." Demetri nodded and kissed Heidi's forehead.

"So do I. I know he can take care of himself, but I'm worried about him. What if they run into nomads?" Then his eyes widened more.

"What?"

"What if they run into Stefan and Vladimir? They'll be able to tell Dante looks a lot like me. They'll figure out they're our kids. What will they do to them if they find them?"

"Don't think about that. Please don't make me think about that. They won't run into them. I hope not at least." Then, as if fate would have it so, Demetri heard Stefan and Vladimir's tenors, which he always heard in his head, disappear completely. What was worse, the tenors had been coming from all the way in the forests outside of Florence. "Demetri, what's wrong? You're scaring me, Demetri. What's wrong?"

"They found them." Heidi's eyes widened more.

"What are you talking about? How do you know?"

"Vladimir and Stefan's tenors. They disappeared."

"Oh god, no." Heidi hid her face in her hands when Demetri told her that. She was even more terrified than she'd been mere seconds ago. "Where were they?"

"Just outside of Florence. But I think they're probably on the move again. By the time I get there, they'll be long gone and somewhere else." Heidi sighed, and her voice was shaky. She couldn't think of a time she'd ever been so scared.

Heidi stayed with Demetri for several hours. Felix wasn't in the lobby like he usually was. He tried watching something to get his mind prioritizing on something else. But with the mood he was in, even Saving Private Ryan wasn't good anymore. He was terrified. What was going on with Lia? He had no way of knowing. But he refused to let anything happen to her. Aro's story had really sunk in. After really thinking about the incident over the past few months, he realized he recalled the situation perfectly.

He'd just returned to Italy from Egypt at the time. He remembered that his wife had been distant, but also remembered they'd always been like that. He couldn't remember why he and his wife seemed to have so much tension between them, but he remembered it being there. And he remembered that Lia, his little sister, was the one person he could really talk to. He could suddenly remember that Pomegranates were her favorite fruit, she had a love of birds, and she was innocent as a five year old girl and cute as a button.

He remembered that day, he'd been at a whore house. Even happily married men at the time would indulge in such a thing. It was something that was natural in Roman society. And as he recalled, he wasn't getting anything from his wife, so he was simply taking matters into his own hands. He was coming home from that and was eager to see Lia again. She always seemed to make his day better jut by smiling and reminding him that tomorrow was a new day. But when he'd gotten home, he found Lia lying on the ground with blood freshly flowing from her cracked head from an impact to the ground. He'd lived in a home that had three floors and his house had been on the third floor.

What was worse, Felix could remember every emotion he'd felt in that moment. He remembered the initial heartbreak and the unbearable pain in his chest. He could remember holding her dead body in his arms begging her to come back. Then he remembered looking up and seeing his wife and another man he'd never met looking over the edge with wide eyes. Then he'd felt anger like he didn't remember ever having before. Felix didn't remember much about his marriage, but he remembered that he'd already had a great deal of contempt for his wife at the time and Lia's death had been the last straw. The memory ended with him looking at himself in the mirror in his house covered in blood, his wife and her lover dead and bloody on the floor behind him.

He could remember all that now. A memory he'd long since forgotten until Lia was born. He now remembered exactly how it'd felt to lose his dear little sister. And when he remembered all that pain, he swore to himself he would never let anything happen to her. He would never go through that pain again. That's why he was so strict with her and rarely ever let her out of his sight. And now here he was, sitting in the library, head in his hands, feeling weak and vulnerable and terrified that his baby girl was out there without him. Even with her gift, she was just a child. He couldn't bear to imagine what kind of danger she would encounter out there.

Felix always thought he'd been good to her. He sat on that couch racking his brain for anything he did wrong. Maybe he'd been too strict with her. Maybe she'd mistaken all his yelling for contempt. He couldn't pinpoint it. But there had to be something he'd done wrong that would make Lia agree to Dante's stupid scheme. That's all that Felix did for several hours. He just sat in the library trying to think of anything he might have done wrong.

Corin was in the library too. Though he remained quiet and composed, he was, for the most part, in the same mindset as Felix. He was thinking about anything he could've done to make his children want to run away. What had he done that had been so horrible? He couldn't imagine it being that he didn't talk much. That was simply the way he was. He never spoke much because he never really had anything that he thought was worth saying. Within hours, the quiet started bothering him to no end. Octavia used to always be talking, either to Armando or him. Now that she wasn't here, it was too quiet and it was driving him mad. The lack of noise, to his amazement, was even starting to give him a headache.

Afton was in one of the towers in the castle. Chelsea wasn't with him. He just wanted to be alone at the moment. He thought about Amadora and what the others had told him about her and Chelsea. He never realized that's what was going on. Afton always knew that Chelsea wasn't fond of Amadora, that much he knew and even understood. Chelsea would leap at the chance to have a child with Afton. But since she couldn't have children, like all female vampires, it was a dream that was simply let go and never revisited again. But when Afton had a child with another woman, worse off, a woman he didn't even know, that was too much for her.

Afton could understand Chelsea having a degree of hatred for whoever Amadora's mother was. Brooke, Afton recalled Sulpicia saying. This woman that neither of them had ever met was giving Afton something Chelsea couldn't and she felt resentment for that. Afton understood all that and he didn't mind it at all.

But he'd never realized that Chelsea was being cruel to Amadora and bringing out that resentment on her. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. It was so obvious now. He could slap himself for letting all that happen. No wonder Amadora ran away. Afton stayed in the tower alone for a while before Chelsea came up hoping to find him in better spirits. She was sad to find that he still looked extremely upset. She also noticed he looked angry. That hadn't been an emotion she'd seen earlier. Chelsea assumed this anger was for Dante or someone else for the incident. She walked over to Afton and was about to hug him.

"Don't touch me, Chelsea." Chelsea's eyes went wide. He'd never said anything like that to her before. Ever.

"What's the matter?" Afton looked at Chelsea with the same angry look.

"What the hell do you think is the matter, Chelsea?! Amadora's out there and she could get hurt." Chelsea breathed out, avoiding letting that become a sigh. She should've figured he was worried about her.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Afton. She's got a powerful shield, that should do her just fine." Afton finally turned around completely. Chelsea walked a step back from the look in his eyes as he walked closer to her.

"You don't even care, do you? My daughter could get hurt, or worse killed, and you're not even nervous. If anything, I think you're relieved to be rid of her."

"She's not my daughter, Afton, what do you want from me?"

"Just because she's not yours doesn't give you no right to mistreat her. I've turned my head from it for too long and now look what happened." Chelsea started glaring at Afton.

"Are you blaming me for this?!"

"You're a big part of it, no doubt. You've never even made an effort to be nice to her. You always push her away whenever she tries to talk to me. Why are you doing that to her?! What has she done to deserve that from you?!"

"And what about me?! What did I ever deserve to have to share you with another woman's child?"

"It wasn't my idea to do it. You know that. If I had a choice, it would've never happened. But the fact of the matter is that it has. And whether she's yours or not doesn't matter. What is important is that she's mine. Isn't that enough?"

Chelsea stood there just looking at Afton, speechless. She didn't know what to say. She had her reasons, of course. But none of those reasons would be good enough for him. She only looked at the ground, not wanting to look at him anymore. The look he was giving her was making her feel guilty and she didn't like it. He'd never looked at her like this before. Her silence was enough answer for Afton. He turned away from her and kept looking out the window. In a strange way, he was hoping that if he waited long enough, he'd see her making her way home.

After a few minutes, the silence became too much for Chelsea. Her and Afton didn't argue much. There was rarely anything to argue about. But now they were, and it was a horrible feeling. She wracked through her brain trying to think of a way to maybe get Afton to forgive her, or at the very least look at her without a scowl on his face. She waited another minute before trying to walk over to him again. This time when she did, he didn't make a move away from her. She grabbed him into a hug and rested her head on his back. Afton didn't push her away, but he didn't make a move to make the hug mutual either.

"Don't be mad at me, Afton. Please don't be mad at me."

"How can you ask me that?" Chelsea rubbed her face into his back trying to have a steady breath whether she needed to breath or not.

"I'm sorry. I'm jealous of her." Afton gave Chelsea a weird look and turned his head to look at her.

"What?" Chelsea sighed.

"I'm jealous of her. I'm jealous of her mother. I'm jealous that a woman you didn't even know got to give you something I never could. I'm jealous that she has your undying affection."

"Who said you didn't? I love you, Chelsea, and I always have. Nothing will change that. But I love Amadora too. But it's a different kind of love." Chelsea nodded.

"Exactly. It's different. A love like ours, I can break something like that with my power with no problem at all. I can't do that with you and Amadora. The relationship you two have is stronger. It's a tighter bond that I can't break, at least not easily." Afton's eyes widened in a glare and he turned to look at her.

"You mean you've tried?!" Chelsea didn't let go of Afton even when he forced his body to face her.

"I didn't want to share you. I never had to before, now suddenly I have to share you with a love child that you love more than me."

"I don't love her more than you, Chelsea! I just love her like a daughter! It's different."

"Different enough that the bond was too tight for me to break. I hoped that maybe I could get you two to be distant from each other."

"How could you?! How dare you?!"

"I told you why. There's not much more reason I can give you other than that."

"Do you hear yourself, Chelsea?! You're jealous of Amadora! I love her and you! I love both of you! And I can't believe that you thought you had to resort to dirty tricks to try and make yourself brighter in my eyes! Well, Chelsea, know that you failed and failed miserably!" Afton tried to push her away then, but Chelsea simply wouldn't let go.

Afton tried with all his strength to get her to let go of him without hurting her. He was furious with her. He needed to be away from her for at least a few hours. He was all the angrier with himself because he knew that he'd still forgive her for this given time. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and kept pushing. But she wouldn't let go. So instead, Afton stopped moving all together.

"I'm sorry, Afton. I don't know what else to say." Afton breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm down a little. He was truly livid.

"Leave me be, Chelsea." Chelsea shook her head. "Leave me alone Chelsea!" She shook her head again.

"No. I won't lose you. Not like this, not ever."

"I want to be alone Chelsea. When I'm a little calmer, maybe we can talk, but right now, I'm sooner to hit you than talk to you." Chelsea still wouldn't let go of Afton. He even raised his hand to prepare to hit her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. As furious as he was, he still loved her. He hated himself for it, but despite everything, he loved her. And despite how angry he was with her, he swallowed his anger and finally hugged Chelsea back.

She started crying dry tears. Afton had never wanted for any of this to happen. He wanted Chelsea to accept Amadora as her own more than anything. It hurt him in a way he couldn't describe to know that she hated her so much. That's not how it was supposed to be. When he'd seen Amadora, he'd been so happy. He pictured that they would be a happy family and that Chelsea would replace Brooke as Amadora's mother. He wanted that so much.

They didn't come to any real conclusion about Amadora that night. Afton simply held Chelsea and let her cry in his arms. He hated himself for letting this all happen and he hated himself even more pretending their life was something that it wasn't. Back at the highest tower, Heidi was still sitting with Demetri when Felix came up for the seventh time that night asking if he'd heard anything yet. Demetri gave his same answer as the last six times and Felix left with the same odd combination of a grimace and pain on his face.

"Do you think we'll ever find them?"

"I don't know. I hope so, Heidi." Heidi breathed out and rested her head on Demetri's shoulder.

"I want him back, Demetri."

"I know."

"I want to hold him and tell him we're here for him and how much I love him."

"I do to. Believe me, Heidi, I do too." Demetri put his fingers under Heidi's chin and made her look at him. "I won't rest until I find them. Mark my words, Heidi. I won't stop searching until I find them."

"Thank you, Demetri."

"You don't need to thank me. Any man would do that for his son." Heidi smiled in eagerness and kissed Demetri.

"You're a wonderful father, Demetri. Just like I've always said."

Heidi didn't leave Demetri's side until a few days later when Aro demanded she go out and get some humans to feed on. When she came back, it was with her usual count. While Felix led them to the main room, Heidi went to the tower to tell Demetri there was blood. To Heidi's astonishment, Demetri refused to leave the top tower. He swore he wouldn't leave there until he heard someone's tenor. When Heidi had her fill of blood, she went back to Demetri and took a seat next to him once again. He was still on the edge looking out in the distance waiting. When she was sitting next to him, she took his hand in hers and looked out with him. She didn't try talking anymore. She just wanted Demetri to concentrate on finding the children.

A few weeks went by and there was nothing. Aro and Caius had long since lost hope in Demetri. They started making calls to other vampires they knew that would be willing to look for them. Before it was halfway through the month, Aro had half the vampires in Europe looking for them. None of them were having any luck finding them either. But no vampire that was looking dared go to the castle until they found them. Some of them stopped looking all together.

Felix always kept the same routine. Just about every hour or so, he would come to the tower and ask Demetri if he'd heard anything. Demetri always simply said no, and Felix would leave him alone until an hour later where he would come back again and ask the same question. Demetri tried not to let this bother him. Felix was a wreck, just like the rest of them. It was understandable that he would be panicking like this.

It took a few days, but Chelsea finally got Afton to come from the tower he was at back to the main room. He didn't talk much, but Chelsea didn't let that bother her. Corin stayed to himself, so it seemed to everyone else that nothing was new. No one ever saw Felix during the month. He was usually in the library just sitting in front of the fire alone or with Corin sitting in another chair. Demetri stayed in the tower waiting to hear anything at all. By the time the kids were gone for a whole month, Demetri was even more discouraged. He wondered if maybe something really had happened to them.

Half way through the day, Aro sent Heidi out to get some food. It wasn't tourist season, so it took her a lot longer to find humans that weren't inhabitants of the city. The sun was starting to go down and Heidi still wasn't back from the hunting trip and Caius was getting extremely impatient. Demetri was still on the tower waiting. His throat was burning from the lack of blood over the last month, but he didn't care.

He could hear Felix walking up the stairs about to ask him if he'd heard anything and he was prepared to tell him the same thing he always did. But then he heard something he hadn't heard in a month. He heard Amadora's tenor. Then he heard Octavia, Armando, and finally, Lia. He heard those tenors coming from the same direction as the Cullens. And Vladimir and Stefan were there too as well as several other familiar tenors coming from the Cullen's home. They'd gathered a small army again. It was the same people as before, maybe a handful more.

"You get anything?" Normally, Demetri would just shake his head as an answer and Felix would go away. But today, Demetri looked Felix in the eyes.

"They're somewhere West." Felix's face became shocked and eventually demanding. He wanted answers as much as all the others. "Vladimir and Stefan are with them, as I suspected." Felix's eyes seemed to blaze at that realization. Demetri didn't wait to give Felix further detail. He ran straight to the main room where Aro and Caius were eagerly awaiting any news.

Aro and Caius had begun to lose hope that they would ever find them. But they stood up in anticipation as they saw Demetri walk into the main room with Felix close behind. Corin and Afton stood to immediate attention while most of the others just looked curiously. Aro looked as if he would leap for joy.

"You found them." Demetri nodded his head.

"They're out West." Aro clapped his hands together and sighed in relief.

"Finally, we found them." Caius spoke next.

"Those little brats will pay for putting us through so much trouble. First the police are hollering at our door, then they run away." Aro looked at Caius.

"Never mind, Caius, calm yourself. We know where to go to look for them. We'll handle them when we come back." Aro looked slightly annoyed himself, but he wasn't nearly as theatrical about showing it as Caius was. Marcus, of course, remained his usual mask of indifference. Felix's impatience was potent.

"Why are we just standing here? Let's go!" Everyone looked at Felix with bewildered eyes. Felix was always the most obedient, to the letter member of the coven. Not once had he ever raised his voice at Aro and Caius. No one had. No one dared. Until now.

"Relax, Felix, relax. I know you're anxious. As are Afton, Corin, and Demetri." Aro turned his attention to Demetri. "Do you know how far west they are, Demetri?" Demetri nodded.

"In the U.S." Caius' face became impossibly angrier.

"I knew it! The Cullens have them!" Aro rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Caius. He was acting as if this wasn't a big surprise. It probably wasn't.

"Calm yourself, Caius. You've always wished for a solid, irrefutable reason to destroy the Cullens. Well now we have one. Kidnapping." Everyone in the room became slightly confused. The Cullens hadn't kidnapped them. They had run away on their own. No one knew why they would go to the Cullens. But if anything, Corin, Afton, and Demetri were just grateful that someone was looking after them. Felix on the other hand just looked like he was about to massacre a whole village.

"You better not dawdle this time, Aro. I don't care how many witnesses they have, I don't care how many powers they have on their side, and I especially don't care about our possible loss. I want them dead. All of them. I won't tolerate their meddling anymore. And I certainly am tired of putting up with your need to collect things."

Afton, Corin, Demetri, even Felix, froze when they heard those words. What was that supposed to mean? What were they planning on doing to them? Felix certainly didn't care what Caius ordered them to do to the Cullens. They could be fucked up the ass by the devil himself for all he cared. But Lia. What were they planning to do to her? Marcus stood from where he was sitting and grabbed Aro's hand, letting him hear his thoughts. Aro nodded.

"You're right. Now's not the time to argue. We need to find them." Aro looked around the room. "The wives will stay here. Demetri, Afton, Chelsea, Renata, Felix, Alec, Jane, and Corin will come with us. The rest of you will stay here and protect the wives and the castle." Everyone nodded their heads acknowledging the order. The guards called to come with Aro, Caius and Marcus stood to attention ready to go.

Aro looked at Demetri, letting him know he was free to start running and show the way. As they ran behind Demetri, following, Felix was right behind him. Corin and Afton were following very close behind. When they reached the Atlantic, they started swimming as fast as they could to reach the states. At the rate they were going, it would only take them by the end of the next day to get there.

Shortly after they left, Heidi got back to the castle with twenty foreigners that thought they'd be taking a tour. Heidi led the guests through the castle with a smile, explaining the history of the castle as they went along. When they reached the lobby, Sofia asked for Heidi's attention. Luckily for Heidi, none of the guests spoke Italian, so speaking in front of them wasn't an issue.

"Heidi." Heidi looked at Sofia and asked everyone to wait a moment while she spoke to Sofia. Once she told the guests to give her a moment, she walked over to Sofia to talk to her.

"What?"

"Aro, Caius, and Marcus left with Demetri, Felix, Jane, Alec, Renata, Chelsea, Afton, and Corin." Heidi's eyes widened.

"Where did they go?" Sofia shrugged.

"Somewhere out west I think."

"Did they find the children?" Sofia shrugged again, which infuriated Heidi.

"I don't know, they didn't say. But Demetri did leave something on my desk that had your name on it."

"He did?" Sofia nodded. "Well, give it to me then." Sofia panicked a little when Heidi raised her voice and ran around her desk to get the note Demetri had left there.

"Here." Heidi took the letter from her.

"Now take these people to the main room and close the door behind you before you leave." Sofia was about to say something, but Heidi raised her voice again. "Damn it Sofia, just do it!" Sofia panicked and ran to the guests with a forced smile and started speaking to them, but it was in Italian. Heidi rolled her eyes. "Sofia." Sofia looked at Heidi.

"Yes, Heidi?"

"They don't speak Italian. You need to speak English." Sofia's face became nervous. Heidi sighed. "What's wrong."

"I don't speak English." Heidi rolled her eyes.

"Of course." Heidi sighed. Then she looked at the guests with a smile and spoke to them in English. "Ladies and Gentleman, if you'll please follow Sofia, she will show you the rest of the way until I finish something here." Then Heidi looked at Sofia, who got the attention of the people and led them with her to the main room. When they were gone, Heidi opened the note and read it.

It wasn't in Italian. Heidi figured Demetri didn't want Sofia being able to read what he'd written to her. Instead, the letter was in German. German wasn't technically Heidi's native tongue. She was born in Germania, but German wasn't the national language at the time. But it was a language that both Heidi and Demetri knew. Heidi read the letter quickly.

_Heidi,_

_I found Dante and am bringing him back home. I still want us to leave the Volturi and plan to run as soon as I have Dante. I want you to leave the castle too. I'll keep my phone so I can call you and let you know we're coming. Go somewhere out of Italy and meet us in Berlin when I call. I love you and will see you soon._

_Demetri_

When Heidi finished reading, she tried to make her exterior look normal despite what she was feeling. With Aro away, it wouldn't be hard for her to sneak away and never turn back. The more she thought about it, the more she knew it would be risky and they might not be able to get away with it. But she still wanted to do it. With hardly a second thought, Heidi folded the letter, stuffed it into the pocket of her short tight fitting denim dress and turned to go get some clothes and a large purse.

She ran up the stairs as fast as she could and found the largest purse she had. It was a large blue purse that was firm and leathery in feel and was covered in support lines of patterned blue and purple fabric. It was one of her favorites. She'd snatched it from one of the victims they'd had over the years. She emptied it of anything unneeded and filled it with her cell phone and three changes of clothes for herself, Demetri, and Dante. They could always get more clothes when they met up in Berlin. She changed into different, more appropriate clothes for going through the woods. A miniskirt and halter top was good for catching pray, but didn't fare so well in the woods. She changed into shorts, tennis shoes, and a tank top.

Once Heidi had everything she needed, she ran to the tallest tower, looked around, and jumped from one spot on the castle to another until she was at the right height to jump from the castle to another building. Then she headed northeast to go to Berlin. As she ran, she hoped that Demetri and Dante would be able to get out with no trouble and maybe even run while Aro and the others were fighting the Cullens. Thanks to the number of allies they had, there was no doubt the Cullens would be able to stand up to Aro and the guards. She was hoping Demetri and Dante would get a chance to escape from the group and start running. Or even sneak onto a plane in Seattle to Germany. At this point, Heidi was simply hoping for the best.

Demetri was in the lead as they ran through New York to Canada. Only a few more hours and they would make it to Washington and could confront the Cullens. Felix was still angry, but he was cooling down fast. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded that Carlisle and his coven were watching over Lia and the others. Carlisle was a gentle vampire. He had more of his humanity left than any other vampire Felix had ever known. It was Vladimir and Stefan being near her that concerned him. Those two have wanted the end of the Volturi for more centuries than could be counted. What would they do if they had the opportunity to bring harm to something that they would see as a possession of Aro? Their only hope was that Carlisle was watching over them and promising to keep them safe. He wasn't capable of anything else, which Felix knew.

Several hours after arriving in the U.S., they reached Washington and jumped past the sad excuse for a checking point in Vancouver and ran as fast as they could to Forks. They could smell all the vampires and shape shifters that were gathered to face them. Aro was torn between amusement and aggravation. On the one hand, he was pleased to see the Cullens held the same fear for them as any other vampire in the world. On the other hand, that many people, should it turn into a fight, would make it all the more difficult to end the fight quickly, especially with Bella's shield.

When they were mere meters away, Aro and the others came to a halting stop and did their usual march towards them. Aro stood at the very front with Marcus and Caius at his left and right. The other guards were divided into groups of four and were on Caius' left and Marcus' right. As a strong, intimidating unit, they marched through the trees to the clearing where the Cullens and their bystanders waited with Dante and the others all in line. Once everyone was in sight and position, Aro gave his usual open smile, which he directed at Carlisle.

"Carlisle, my old friend." Carlisle's expression was far from welcoming. It was like the face of a man that didn't want to listen to a salesman that was at his door. Demetri turned his full attention immediately to Dante. He'd grown a fourth of an inch since the last time he'd seen him. After being apart for so long, Dante's face hit him. He really did look so much like him. All the fathers concentrated on their children while still keeping their faces hard and emotionless.

"Aro." Carlisle's voice was monotone. It was clear the joy wasn't mutual. Aro ignored Carlisle's clearly rude tone of voice and got to the subject at hand.

"I'm disappointed in you, Carlisle. The Romanians take what is mine and you help harbor them." Felix didn't want to look at Aro for his words, but he couldn't help but do so. Same with Corin, Demetri, and Afton. They weren't possessions. It was offensive to hear him refer to them as such. Stefan smiled arrogantly in response.

"We did no such thing. Dante took them and ran of his own free will. We just happened to come across them while they were running." Felix hissed under his breath as a reflex at Stefan's words. Lia, seeing this, felt a twinge of joy. She knew daddy cared. She'd always known. The fact that he had enough punt up emotion that he, of all people, would break his composure with a hiss was all the more proof. Lia noticed Nessie look at her with a strange look, but she didn't care.

"Watch what you say, Stefan. I have no patience for this." Aro was annoyed in more ways than one. He was trying very hard not to lose his temper. "Now give them back and we will take our leave." Caius glanced at Aro, hoping those were merely false words of encouragement. Carlisle looked at Aro suspiciously and looked to Edward for confirmation.

"You know just as well as I do that he's lying, Carlisle. Caius has no intention of leaving here until we're dead." Aro felt himself get more annoyed, and Caius was getting angrier with every passing moment. Aro simply hated it when people called his bluffs. If it weren't for Bella's damn shield, they could've finished this with Jane or Alec's gift minutes ago. But despite knowing he'd been caught red-handed, he simply looked offended.

"Carlisle, my old friend. All I want is for you to hand the children over. Why is this such a difficult task?" Out of reflex, all the members of the guard braced themselves for a fight. The fathers were concentrating on their children while still forcing their composure. Demetri was waiting for the perfect time to grab Dante and run for Berlin.

"If they wish to go back to you, then I won't stop them, Aro. But as far as I know, they do not wish to. I won't force them to do something they don't want to do."

"That's not for you to decide!" Aro, though just as annoyed as Caius, held his hand up to silence him and was sure to keep his composure as best he could.

"Forgive his outburst. But his point remains valid Carlisle. It's not your place to say whether they come with us or not. It's my say." Aro's tone was like that of a man lecturing a child. At his words, Dante got fed up, more so than he already was. He wasn't a toy or a possession or a collectable and neither were the others, he was a boy who would soon be a man. In response, Dante took a step forward and stood tall and proud. The way any man would.

"No, Aro. It's our say. And I have no intention of staying in Volterra waiting for you to kill me and the others."

With that said, Demetri, Corin, Afton, and especially Felix, looked at Aro a little surprised to hear this. They all were furious now. Aro had no right to make such a decision. Demetri was glad he was planning to take Dante and run. Given the present circumstances, he was happy everything happened as it did. Dante had taken it upon himself to save everyone from certain death and had done so all on his own. Demetri was bursting with pride at that moment. He'd never been prouder of Dante than he was now. He didn't know Dante's mother, but he knew this was something he could've only gotten from her and he was damn proud of it.

"My god, Dante. Where would you get an idea like that? You think I would waste your talents?" Dante nodded.

"In truth, Lia's the only one I can imagine you would tolerate keeping. Though, as I recall, Caius thought her power worthless. Seeing as she needs to be touching you to do so." Caius' eyes held further furry towards Dante. Demetri fought the smile he knew was starting to show. The boy was a smart ass to boot. He'd always been like that, but now seemed a better time than ever to be that way.

"You always did have a habit of snooping." Aro even laughed lightly. He wasn't really laughing because it was funny. Aro was laughing simply because, by now, he was so angry about this that his anger had come full circle and now, all he could do short of killing Dante where he stood was laugh.

"The beauty of no one knowing where you are." When Dante said that, Demetri couldn't fight his smirk anymore. Aro stopped laughing and Caius could feel his cold blood start to boil.

"The more you provoke us, Dante, the worse the punishment will be for you and the others. Especially for you. I suggest you quit while you're ahead."

Lia and the others looked at Dante nervously. They had no more idea where he was going with this than we did. Dante looked over his shoulder for a nanosecond with a smirk, asking everyone behind him to have faith in him and to know that he knew what he was doing. And even if it didn't work, Dante had always wanted to his Caius over the head with his violin. Edward fought the laugh when he heard Dante's thought. Then he looked at Aro and Caius again and smirked at them with the best smartass grin he had.

"Do your worst Caius." Caius' face became appalled. Though he couldn't imagine it being possible, Aro was even angrier. His expression was surprised, but all he felt was anger. It wasn't a real surprise that Dante would be a smartass to the end. And as the conversation went on Demetri was just becoming more and more proud.

"Believe me. We will." Caius said with a hiss to his voice. Everyone looked at Caius for a moment. Then the rest of the Voulturi put their attention back to the Cullens and their group. Aro breathed, trying to contain his frustration.

"Let them go." Everyone stared wide eyed at Marcus. Hardly anyone had heard Marcus speak. Even when Didyme was alive, he was never much for conversation. It was usually only Didyme who could ever get so much as a peep out of him let alone a full sentence. Aro was surprised to hear Marcus talk for the first time in a good five hundred years.

"What?" Caius' voice was raged and Marcus looked at him without a shred of fear.

"Let them go. If they do not wish to serve us, then let them be."

"You can't be serious. They're a danger to us." The fathers watched this fight closely now while Marcus rolled his eyes. It was a full sentence and a gesture all in one day. Kind of like spotting Hailey's comet.

"I said they would be from the beginning. I told you both that they would only form a wedge between all the Voulturi. I told you that they couldn't be controlled and I told you that they wouldn't be alone if they decided to turn on us. Neither of you listened to me."

"You act as if you knew that they would go to the Cullens." Caius' words were accusing and bone chilling, but Marcus never flinched. Aro looked amongst the guards suspiciously. He remembered Marcus' warning all too well. And he furious to ever be wrong. He began pinching his nose from the anger.

"It's not the Cullens he's talking about." Caius was fuming.

"Well then what are you saying, Marcus?" He'd finally had enough of Caius' ignorance. Marcus' face went from calm, to livid in seconds and his voice was just as loud and bone chilling.

"What I am saying, Caius, is that it never occurred to you that our guards would choose their children over you!"

"Listen to yourself, Marcus! Do you honestly think that they care at all for those little brats?!" Felix hissed again. He wouldn't let anyone ever say he didn't care about his daughter. He loved that girl more than blood and he would never tolerate hearing someone say otherwise. Lia suffered that enough. He would never give her a reason to doubt that he cared about her ever again. Lia felt tears of joy forming in her eyes and she was getting more and more impatient. She wanted to be with daddy again.

"You dare hiss at me?!" Felix glared at Caius and Caius back at Felix. Marcus rolled his eyes and his face returned to its usual mask of indifference. Caius was about to yell at Felix for his insult, but he heard Renata yell for Demetri.

"Demetri, where are you going?" Renata asked from behind Aro. There wouldn't be a fight, not between the Cullens and the Volturi. He didn't want to wait and listen to the bickering anymore. He simply left the line and started walking over to Dante. He felt a stab in his chest at Dante's expression. He was surprised to see him coming. He felt awful that he'd allowed Dante to think he'd hated him for so long. But that was about to change, right her, right now.

"He's not going to attack us." Demetri wasn't listening to what was going on. He was grateful that Edward was making sure the group let him approach.

"Demetri, get back in formation." Demetri ignored Caius and kept walking straight to Dante. And the closer Demetri got, the more Dante's expression changed. It was becoming hopeful. This made Demetri smile a little. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, Dante knew he loved him all along.

When he was finally close enough, Demetri stopped in front of Dante and looked at him. He was having the same problem as always. He had no idea what to say. There were so many things going on and so many things he wanted to explain, but also didn't want Dante to ever think about again. But he finally decided that maybe, a simple sorry was the best he could do. After a while, Demetri kneeled down in front of Dante, leaving Dante standing tall and above him and pulled Dante in a hug. Dante was so surprised by the action. Demetri never hugged him before. Demetri just wasn't the hugging kind of parent. It was a minute before he was able to respond and hug Demetri back. When he did, Demetri finally forced the courage to spoke.

"I'm sorry, Dante." Dante looked at his father, confused, but still happy.

"What are you talking about dad?" It took everything in Demetri to respond. There were so many things he was talking about and that he wanted to apologize for. But he did his best to summarize what he wanted to say.

"I've failed you as a father. I couldn't even protect you from danger. You had to do it yourself." Dante smiled at Demetri and hugged him tighter.

"That's not true. You taught me everything I know. You're the one that taught me how to confuse scents." Demetri laughed lightly. He wasn't a complete failure as a father. He couldn't believe it. Heidi had been right all along.

"Yeah. I guess I am aren't I." Dante laughed with Demetri at how wrong they both had been. Except for Afton, Felix, Corin, Alec, and Marcus, the Volturi were mortified. Aro was losing his best tracker to a delinquent. But then Corin left formation too.

Octavia and Armando just stared at him bewildered at first. They watched him walk closer to them with an apologetic smile on his face. Then, Octavia began to walk towards him too. Armando followed closely behind. Soon, she was running to him wanting nothing more to know her father really did care even if he was a hair away from being mute.

"Daddy. Daddy." Octavia chanted as she started running to Corin. She leaped into his arms and Corin caught her in a tight embrace. When he had Octavia in his arms, he looked over her shoulder at Armando and let out one arm to invite Armando into his arms. Armando didn't even hesitate. He ran the rest of the distance and went into Corin's arms.

They didn't say anything to one another. Corin and Armando remained silence while Octavia was crying quiet tears of joy.

"Afton?" Afton didn't stop when Chelsea called to him. He was only looking at his little girl. Amadora beamed with joy as she watched Afton walk to her. Chelsea, on the other hand, felt a pain like she'd never felt before. She never thought she would know what it feels like to lose a mate, at least not to another girl. "Afton."

Amadora went to Afton and had as beautiful a reunion as all the others. Amadora was crying by the time she was in her daddy's arms. She couldn't think of any other way to express how happy she was other than crying. They uttered loving words and promises that things would be better from now on. Then Afton took Amadora into his arms and lifted her up with him as he stood up straight. Then he looked at Chelsea, who was still staring at them with a face like that of a person betrayed.

"Chelsea." Afton's voice was kind, loving, and pleading.

"Afton, why?" They'd spoken about this, but she still couldn't wrap her head around it that he would really choose someone else over her. Afton shook his head.

"Chelsea, please." Chelsea shook her head subtly. "I love you, Chelsea. I always have. And I always will. I need you with me. And Amadora needs a mother. I can't think of a single woman I'd rather have help me raise my little girl. I don't love her more or less than I love you. I only want for you to love her as much as I do, my love."

Chelsea looked at him and Amadora. Amadora and Chelsea looked deep into each other's eyes as if trying to search for something there. Chelsea knew she'd been wrong. She was bringing out a hatred of a woman she didn't even know onto the daughter of the man she loved. She hated herself for holding such a petty grudge and even worse about how she handled it. She looked at her Coven once, then looked at Afton and Amadora again. Eventually, she started smiling and began running to them. Afton and Amadora smiled back at her as she ran to them. When she finally reached them, she was instantly in Afton's arms with Amadora. They shared a passionate kiss that left no doubt in Chelsea's mind that she could change and then Chelsea looked at Amadora after their lips parted.

"I'm sorry Amadora. I've been so cruel to you. I just couldn't bear sharing Afton with you. I haven't had to for so many centuries. But I know that Afton loves you. You're so much like your father. It only makes sense that I love you too. Please say you forgive me. For everything I've done." Amadora let out another rush of tears as she smiled and nodded her head.

"Mamá." It was a simple word, but it had more significance than anything else in the world. She couldn't believe that after everything she'd ever done to her and after all the pain and confusion she'd caused, that Amadora was still willing to accept her as the mother she never had. Chelsea took Amadora in her arms and kissed her cheek. They continued to stand there, all three holding each other tightly. But through all the joy, Caius was growling with anger.

"I told you Aro, Caius." Caius scowled at Marcus. Marcus looked over Caius' shoulder and actually laughed lightly. "Looks like we've lost our best fighter." Caius stared wide eyed and looked where Marcus was looking. Felix was looking at Lia with a strange look as he walked to her. It was the type of look that could only be shared between father and daughter. Lia was crying and let go of Nessie's hand to come to Felix.

Felix started smiling. It wasn't the cocky, arrogant smile that usually decorated his handsome face. It was a smile that a man would give only to his little girl. As Lia ran to Felix, she called out to him. Felix' face only became happier and happier the closer he came to Lia. When they finally closed the distance, Lia jumped into Felix' arms and he held her tight, spinning her around in a circle while kissing her cheek.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again. You hear me, Lia?" He made sure his tone wasn't harsh. He only let her hear how worried he'd been and that he was sorry. Lia nodded into his neck and held on tighter.

"I won't daddy. I promise."

"JANE!" Caius yelled. Jane looked at all that Caius deemed traitors and was about to use her power. But then, her face went blank. Caius looked at her bewildered. "Jane, what are you waiting for?!"

"I won't let you." It was Alec who spoke and his voice was that filled with determination and a hint of pain that no one around him understood. Caius looked at Alec with what had become a permanent scowl on his face.

"What?!"

"I said I won't let you." Alec's face was angry and broken with pain. Jane's face lost its blank stare, indicating that Alec had taken off the effect of his gift. But she simply replaced that look with one of shock and heartbreak.

"Why did you do that?" Jane asked in a quiet, questioning voice. Alec's face didn't change.

"Because this is wrong." He looked at Caius and Aro now. "All of you." Caius raised his voice in response.

"What difference does it make to you? Your little bastard is dead!" Hearing that was what made Alec lose his temper.

"DEAD AS A DOORNAIL, CAIUS! And there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it! It was my fault that he died! My gift killed him! My one and only son! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT WAS LIKE?!" Jane walked closer to Alec timidly, not wanting to make his mood worse. Dante stared wide eyed at Alec for what he was saying. All this time, he always thought Alec never cared about Santino.

"Alec, it wasn't your fault." Her voice was small as she spoke to him. Alec looked at Jane, sorrow burning in his eyes.

"My gift makes me able to make people dead to the world. That's what Santino was. Dead to the world. No matter what I did, his condition never improved. Nothing I did helped him, Jane."

"You did everything you could." Her voice was only getting quieter.

"And it still wasn't good enough, Jane! I watched my son die before my eyes. And all I could do was stand by and watch." He brought his pained face a little closer to Jane's. "I've never felt so helpless in my life, Jane." Jane was looking at Alec with fear and sadness in her eyes.

"Don't do this Alec. You're all I have."

"Don't you dare turn on us, Alec! We created you and by god we can destroy you!" Alec hissed and prepared himself to defend himself if need be. Marcus rolled his eyes and spoke again.

"We have lost, Caius. Let it go." Caius and Aro both glared at Marcus. Aro spoke with a chilling voice.

"It isn't over until I say it is." Marcus looked at Aro with his indifferent eyes.

"It is over for me." Aro lost his patience entirely and looked at Marcus with a horrified glare. "In plain truth Aro, Caius, I've grown tired of you both. Aro, your obsession with power and your greed have torn several families apart. You had Dante and the others created for the soul fact that you wanted more. And now, as I warned you it would, it has come back to haunt you. Caius, I simply do not like you. I never have. For lack of a better word, Caius, you are a monstrous cuss. And I will not tolerate the two of you anymore. If you still wish to fight the Cullens and gain back your power, fine. But do not expect me to help you do it."

"You're deserting us?!" Aro's voice rang with anger as if it could wake the dead, but Marcus simply nodded.

"Yes, Aro, I am. It's something that I should have done centuries ago." Caius walked closer to Marcus.

"You're just scared. Fine. We'll kill off all these traitors and come to get you once we're done." Marcus rolled his eyes again.

"Caius, you stand no chance. You've just lost your best soldiers to their children. They are all fathers before they are members of the Voulturi. That is a fact that any imbecile could figure out. You both should have listened to me when I told you that forcing Demetri and the others to have children with human women was a bad idea. Before you is proof of what I had been trying to tell you all these years that they were alive. Now if you will excuse me, I will take my leave. Goodbye Caius, Aro. May they be kinder to you than you have been to others."

With that, Marcus ran in the other direction and was out of sight. Vladimir and Stefan started laughing quietly in victory. It seemed the moment they had been waiting for after five thousand years was finally here and it was the best feeling in the world. When Marcus finished his speech and left, Alec looked at Jane again and finished.

"I don't want to lose you Jane. But I'm not staying." Jane looked at Alec.

"You can't be serious."

"I WON'T HAVE IT!!" Caius all but leaped at Alec. Alec was about to use his power against Caius, but he didn't need to. Suddenly, what was once only air had become a large solid block appeared and forced Caius away from Alec and Jane. Everyone looked at Amadora. She had her hand out and was concentrating hard. When Caius was pushed back, Amadora let down the shield and breathed in relaxation. Alec looked at Caius in shock, then at Amadora. After a second, he smiled gratefully and Amadora smiled back. He then looked at Jane with the same smile.

"Please Jane." She looked at him torn. Moments passed. Then her face became happy and relaxed as she took his hand. When their hands were joined, they ran away into the woods just as Marcus had. And on their way away, Alec confessed to Jane about the funeral he'd had for Santino and that he wished to visit it once they got back to Europe. Then they toyed with the idea of going back home to England. Maybe live in London or their birth city, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. All that were left were Aro, Caius, and Renata. This made Vladimir laugh with cold joy.

"Give up, Aro. You can't win." Demetri said in a stern voice. Just then, Renata started backing away. Aro and Caius looked at her with fury blazing in their faces and eyes.

"Renata!" Aro said. But Renata shook her head. She wasn't a fighter. And with Bella's shield, she didn't stand a chance.

"No. My gift can't help you, Aro. Not anymore. And I won't die for your petty greed." Before they could even retort, Renata ran into the woods, leaving them alone. I heard the same cold laughs again. The smiles and Vladimir and Stefan's faces became wider and they were both laughing coldly.

"Can you taste it, Stefan? That sweet taste of revenge?" Stefan laughed a little harder.

"I most certainly can, Vladimir. For thousands of years, we've hoped for this day to come. It finally has." They continued to stare at Aro and Caius.

"We will make you pay for what you've done. You killed off our coven, destroyed our castle, and took away our power. When we only enjoyed our power, you use your powers to enforce ridiculous laws and petty excuses to kill of your enemies."

"But that ends now. Once and for all." Vladimir and Stefan had one last full laugh before they charged at Caius and Aro and tore them limb from limb. Their bloodcurdling screams didn't go unnoticed, but Stefan and Vladimir savored them and took in the overly sweet smell of their burning bodies once they had Aro and Caius alight.

Once everyone had calmed and Stefan and Vladimir took their leave, everyone went back to the Cullen's home. Lia wanted to play with Nessie a little longer. When it was time to leave, Carlisle and his coven stood with them in the back yard to wish them a good journey.

"Thank you, Renesmee. We owe you more than words can say." They all nodded in agreement at Demetri's words. Nessie smiled and nodded her head politely.

"No. You don't owe me anything. I was wrong about you guys. I thought you wouldn't care about them. I hated you for that." They all smiled at her honesty knowing that she had every right to feel the way she did. Felix answered her.

"We didn't at first. To us, it was just another one of Aro's little experiments, so we went along with it." Felix looked at Lia and they smiled at each other. It was a hard thing to hear, but Lia knew that wasn't the case anymore. "But when Lia smiled at me, I felt a joy I'd never felt before." Corin nodded.

"I used to think your father was a fool for fighting so hard to keep you. But now I understand his reasoning. I wouldn't trade Armando and Octavia for the world. From all of us, thank you for keeping them safe." Nessie smiled sincerely.

"I'm just glad that this all worked out in the end." Afton smiled, then looked at Chelsea, both of them beaming at each other with love.

"We are too." Lia then whispered into Felix' ear, asking him to let her down so she could hug Nessie goodbye. He looked at her a moment, smiled, and put her down on her feet. She went to Nessie and hugged her tightly, which Nessie immediately returned.

"Thank you, Nessie. For everything. You made it all right. I always knew daddy really loved me." She was crying now. "Thank you for proving me right." Nessie hugged Lia tighter from the emotion going through her head at the time.

"You're welcome Lia. Really." After they hugged for several minutes, they finally let go of each other and Lia ran straight into Felix' arms and kissed his nose.

"I love you, daddy." Felix smiled and kissed Lia's little forehead.

"I love you too, Lia. More than anything in the world." After that, they all left, going their separate ways.

Felix decided he wanted to go back to his home, Rome. He missed it and wanted to bask in all the history and the streets he walked when he was young and human. After talking about it, Afton and Chelsea agreed to stay in Italy as well. But Afton also wanted to go to Scotland for a few days to celebrate. He hadn't been in Scotland since he was changed and taken into Aro's coven and he missed the foggy hills that had once been his home.

Corin decided to stay in Italy too. He'd been there for so long as it was and England only made him depressed. He wasn't sure why. He could only guess that something had happened in his human life when he lived in England that made him never want to go to England ever again.

Demetri and Dante started running, like the others. But when they reached Seattle, Dante looked at Demetri and spoke when they finally stopped to walk at a human pace.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we in Seattle? I thought we were just going to run back to New York and swim back to Europe or something." Demetri shook his head.

"We're taking a plane to Europe. It's faster. And we're going to Berlin. I told Heidi to meet us there. We'll sneak on the next flight to Berlin." Dante shrugged.

"Or we could by a ticket." Demetri looked at Dante.

"How? I didn't bring any money." Dante grinned a little and reached into his back pocket of the pants Esme had so kindly gotten for him and pulled out Caius' credit card.

"I did." Demetri gave him a weird look before laughing and shaking his head. "I say we take the next first class flight to Berlin."

"I can't believe you stole his card again."

"I can't believe he didn't notice. Let's go hog wild just for the hell of it since we have all this free money at our disposal." Demetri was about to say no, but Dante was holding up the silver card in an almost taunting way. Finally, he rolled his eyes and took the card.

"I guess we could put it to good use. Maybe Heidi could buy a dress and take her time to pick one she really likes instead of stealing the first one she sees." Dante nodded.

"Way to think big dad." Demetri chuckled and they made their way to the airport and started running again as soon as they could.

When they finally got there, Demetri asked for two first class tickets for the next plane to Berlin. The next plane was leaving in two hours , so they took their tickets and waited at the gate where they'd be boarding. While they were waiting, Dante let Demetri know that he'd discovered a love of garlic and onions. Demetri was wide eyed for a moment and never really responded to his comment. The irony of it was a bit much for him. Then Demetri excused himself a moment to call Heidi.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. We got out alive. But Aro and Caius are dead. Vladimir and Stefan killed them when me and the others turned on them." Heidi was silent on the other end a moment.

"Wait, you guys turned on them?"

"Yeah. We found out that Aro and Caius were planning to kill Dante and the others, so we turned on them. Alec and Jane ran off together and Renata scurried away too. I don't know where she went. My guess is that she'll go back to Italy."

"But why didn't Vladimir and Stefan kill Marcus too?"

"He turned on Aro and Caius too. He told them he was right about the kids all along and left." Demetri heard Heidi smile with humor a little.

"You have a lot to tell me once you get back, you know." Demetri smiled and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. Dante and I will tell you all about it. Did you make it to Berlin?"

"Yeah. Right now, I'm at the Brandenburg Gate. When do you think you'll be here?" Demetri shrugged.

"We're taking a plane to Berlin, so with the stop in London, I think we'll be there within six or seven hours."

"You guys are going by plane?" Demetri smiled.

"Yeah. Dante snatched Caius' credit card before running off. He thought we deserved first class, and I wasn't opposed to the idea either." Heidi giggled.

"I don't know how he does it, but I'm glad he does."

"And since it's pretty much an unlimited amount of money, I figured we could keep it with us in case of emergencies and such. And I thought you'd like the chance to buy a wedding dress." Heidi was silent a moment on the other line. She was smiling ear to ear, but also kicking herself.

"We haven't even talked about where we're going to have the ceremony or how we're going to do everything. I mean, are we going to have an Orthodox wedding, Protestant, or Catholic?"

"I say Orthodox, but that's just because that's the common religion in Russia." Heidi smiled wide again.

"Russia, you say. And where in Russia were you thinking we should wed?" Demetri smiled at Heidi's teasing tone.

"I figured Moscow. And thanks to Dante stealing Caius' credit card, I think we might be able to have our wedding in the Saint Basel Chapel. It's a nice place and a historic land mark."

"Yeah, but the roof is shaped weird." Demetri chuckled.

"I think it's unique." Heidi smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I guess that sort of uniqueness is bound to happen when the country was closed off for so long."

"Russia was never closed off, not even during the communist reign."

"It might as well have been. No one in their right mind ever wanted to go there." Demetri chuckled and shook his head.

"If you don't want to get married in Russia, all you have to do is say so." Heidi was silent a moment and knew Demetri knew she was smiling a guilty smile.

"I was thinking we should get married in Berlin." Demetri smiled.

"I think that could work. Since we have money now, where should we get married?" Heidi was quiet a moment before she spoke.

"Schloss Charlottenburg perhaps?" Demetri chuckled. "What, you don't like it?" Demetri shook his head.

"No, it's not that. I just never thought that would be your wedding destination of choice."

"Well, they have a beautiful garden area. And the front of the palace alone is spectacular and I'd be happy just having the ceremony in front of the palace. Or better yet, have the ceremony in that large room of mirrors they have. It's not too big and it's only going to be you, me, and Dante at the ceremony." Demetri smiled.

"I think that would be perfect. And we'd only have to wait for your dress to be done before we got married."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll start looking for a minister and see how soon we can have the ceremony. Once that's done, I'll start looking for a dress." Demetri smiled wider. It seemed too good to be true that he was really marrying Heidi.

"I can't wait. I'll call you as soon as Dante and I land in Berlin."

"Alright, I'll see you then. I love you."

"I love you too, Demetri."

"Bye, Heidi."

"Bye." Then Demetri hung up his phone and turned to walk back to the gate. But then he saw Chelsea, Afton, Felix, Lia, and Amadora standing behind him with Dante towards the side smiling. "How did you guys get here without me noticing?" Felix answered.

"Dante told Lia and Amadora that you and Heidi were getting married. So naturally, Amadora told Afton and Chelsea, and Lia told me. We went back to the Cullens and asked Bella to shield us while we came here, called Dante, and he covered us with his shield as soon as Bella dropped us off, and now here we are."

"That's a lot of trouble to go through to avoid letting me hear you." Felix shrugged.

"Well, we wanted to surprise you. And frankly, we're hurt that you wouldn't think to invite us to your wedding. Especially me. I thought we were friends, Demetri." Demetri laughed a little.

"It was a better idea to keep in between me, Heidi, and Dante at the time." Afton shrugged.

"Well, now it's different. You don't think Heidi will mind if we invite ourselves to the wedding, do you?" Chelsea smiled.

"And I'm sure she'll want a friend's opinion when she picks out her dress that I hear you can suddenly afford thanks to Dante's sticky fingers." Dante grinned and shrugged. Demetri looked at everyone and smiled.

"How will you get there? The plane we're taking was booked." Felix shrugged.

"No problem. Carlisle was nice enough to buy us tickets to a flight for this morning. We'll meet you guys in Berlin again tomorrow. And we'll call as soon as we land." Demetri looked at everyone again and smiled.

"I guess Heidi wouldn't mind the extra guests." Felix grinned.

"Of course not. I'm the one that kept telling you two to get together, so I think it's only fair I get to see my hard work pay off." Everyone laughed a little and Demetri nodded.

"We'll see you in Berlin then." They all nodded at each other before Demetri walked over to Dante and led him with him back to their gate while Felix and the others went to their gate to wait for their flight that wouldn't be there for a good twelve hours.

Heidi met Demetri and Dante at the airport after they landed and ran to them both when she saw them. She hugged Dante tightly and begged him never to put her and Demetri through anything so painful ever again and told him she was happy to see he was okay. Heidi managed to find an open spot at the Charlottenburg palace a month from now and an Orthodox priest promised to perform the ceremony at three. Heidi was thrilled when Demetri told her about Felix and Afton and Chelsea wanted to be at the wedding and was flattered when Chelsea offered to help her pick out a dress. And when the wedding day finally came, Heidi and Demetri couldn't remember a single day when either of them had been happier than they were when they said 'Iche Mache'.


End file.
